The country’s rice arrivals slid by nearly 15 percent through October following the temporary ban slapped by the government on the imported staple.
Figures from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed that rice imports fell by 14.78 percent to 3.3 million metric tons (MMT) in the January to October from the 3.87 MMT posted last year.
Of this, only 31,101 metric tons (MT) of rice entered the country last month, from the average 362,761 MT in the preceding months.
Furthermore, BPI data showed that 2.67 MMT of rice shipments came from Vietnam, which remained the country’s top supplier. This was followed by Myanmar at 343,910.33 MT.
The Philippines also purchased rice stocks from other countries, such as Thailand (176,270.26 MT), Pakistan (76,394.02 MT), and India (20,314.78 MT).
The slowdown in rice arrivals comes after President Marcos issued an Executive Order (EO) suspending the imports of regular and well-milled rice for 60 days until October 31, 2025 to counter the sharp drop in palay prices ahead of the wet harvest season.
With this, the BPI halted the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) starting September 1. Specialty rice varieties, such as Japonica, glutinous, and basmati rice, are exempt from the import freeze.
While the measure briefly lifted farmgate prices, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said whatever gains the local rice industry attained had tapered off as the suspension neared its expiry.
Because of this, Marcos extended the rice import ban until the end of 2025 in a bid to arrest the slide in farmgate prices of paddy rice.
Despite the temporary ban slapped on foreign shipments of the staple grain, the DA projected that rice stocks would remain ample.
It added that conservative estimates place supply at 89 days by yearend, while optimistic scenarios forecast up to 92 days, at 122.7 kilos per annum of projected per capita consumption compared with just 58 days’ worth of stocks at the end of 2024.
The agency also said retail rice prices remained relatively stable amid the suspension, citing its price monitoring data.
In November, the DA expects well-milled rice to average around P42 per kilo, while regular-milled rice to hover near P40 per kilo.