The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Blame it on high rice prices– both local and imports– Pinoys are now shifting to bread and noodles for their regular diet.
The Philippines is expected to import more wheat in the 2024-2025 marketing year as the demand for various products such as bread, cakes and noodles increased along with population growth, said the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
The USDA-FAS said the inflow of Philippine-bound wheat cargoes from July 2024 to June 2025 is expected to reach 7.2 million metric tons (MT), reported the Inquirer.
The estimated volume is 4.1 percent higher than the 6.9 million MT of wheat that the USDA-FAS estimates to have been imported to the Philippines in the 2023-2024 marketing year.
The report expects the importation of milling wheat—which is used for human consumption—to increase in the current marketing year, but anticipates stable overseas purchases of feed wheat, which is used for animals’ food.
The Philippines does not produce wheat and depends solely on imports to meet its supply nee
for milling wheat is estimated to rise by 4.3 percent to 3.65 million MT while the forecast on feed wheat consumption is maintained at 3.45 million MT.
“Industry contacts engaged in manufacturing of flour and wheat-based products (bread, cakes, noodles, and pasta) report that consumption of milling wheat remains strong in the country supported by continued population growth and increasing income levels,” the USDA-FAS said.
“As a result of income increases, industry contacts report that consumers are diversifying their diet to include other wheat-based products, alongside the staple rice, which are consumed both at home and outside the home (such as at quick-service and full-service restaurants),” it said.
The USDA said it anticipates the consumption of feed wheat to be unchanged as local feed manufacturers will favor feed corn more due to declining global corn prices.
The report observed that corn is still the preferred key ingredient in producing animal feeds given its nutritional profile (fattening) and physical attributes (yellow color).
Feed wheat is used to fill supply gaps for feed corn or when prices for feed wheat are lower.
According to the USDA-FAS, prices of milling wheat have decreased to an average of $274 per MT in July-August from $311 per MT in the same period last year.