THE Philippines’s meat imports breached 1 million metric tons (MMT) as of end-July on the back of huge pork purchases abroad, according to the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
Data from the BAI showed that the country imported 1.02 MMT of meat products from January to July, 11 percent higher than the 919,827 metric tons (MT) recorded in the same period of 2025.
Pork imports held the lion’s share of shipments at 541,405 MT, up 10.31 percent from the previous year’s 490,825 MT. A chunk of the imports were pork cuts and offals at 233,115 MT and 162,745 MT, respectively.
The imported pork products are expected to plug the supply shortfall caused by African swine fever (ASF), a disease that continues to crimp local hog output.
This was followed by chicken shipments which grew by 14.72 percent to 335,669 MT from 292,609 MT, based on BAI data. Mechanically deboned meat (MDM) comprises the majority of the shipments at 195,370 MT, followed by chicken leg quarter at 66,460 MT.
Other meat shipments, such as buffalo and lamb, also grew year-on-year in July when it went up to 32,563 MT from 24,808 MT and 674 MT from 491 MT, respectively.
BAI data also showed the continued surge in duck shipments, skyrocketing ninefold to 845 MT from 85 MT in 2025.
From recent highs, however, beef imports slid by 0.34 percent to 110,570 MT from last year’s 110,948 MT. The bulk of these consisted of beef cuts at 71,755 MT, followed by fats at 21,488 MT.
Turkey shipments also plunged by 30 percent to 41 MT, from the 60 MT recorded in the same period last year.
Brazil maintained its position as the country’s largest supplier of beef (44,069 MT), chicken (189,402 MT), and pork (257,727 MT) products.