Philippine rice imports are likely to reach 2.25 million tons in 2010

According to Jose Cordero, deputy director of the Philippine National Food Administration, rice imports are likely to reach 2.25 million tons next year because the recent strong typhoon has caused serious damage to rice. He said that about 1.3 million tons of rice were affected, which is equivalent to 845000 tons of finished rice. The gap between supply and demand of rice for the whole year may be about 1.4 million tons. Cordero said this was the expected import volume. But the government will confirm the scale of rice imports next year this week. Imports of 2.25 million tons are close to the record import level of 2.3 million tons in 2008. However, traders expect the Philippines to import as much as 3 million tons of rice next year. The Philippines will also import rice through government-to-government deals next year, Jarina said. The Philippines has signed a bilateral agreement with Vietnam, which has pledged to supply the Philippines with 1.5 million tons of rice a year for three years starting in 2009.