US corn is about to arrive in the Philippines, and domestic prices in the Philippines are under pressure

Lead: Singapore, December 12th (Reuters) - Ric Pinca, vice president of the Feed Mills Association of the Philippines, said the first shipment of American corn purchased under the PL480 would arrive in the Philippines this week, prompting traders to cut domestic corn prices The official said local corn dealers were scrambling to clean up their stocks because of concerns that the arrival of American corn would cause domestic corn prices to be under pressure He told Reuters in a telephone interview that corn from the first ship (pl-480 program) will arrive in the Philippines later this week He said domestic corn prices have weakened in the past three weeks and continue to decline At present, the price of corn in the domestic market is less than 8 pesos per kilogram, which was about 8.5 pesos three weeks ago, he said Domestic corn prices are expected to continue to fall, and traders can't wait to sell corn at competitive prices because they feel corn supply will exceed demand as the US corn market fills In September, the U.S Department of Agriculture said the Philippines had purchased a total of 209996 tons of U.S corn under the pl-480 program The program helps developing countries use long-term low interest loans to buy American agricultural products Pinca said that in addition to the first shipment of corn, another two shipments of corn are expected in January and February, which will completely change domestic demand in the Philippines this month and in the first two months of 2002 Demand for corn suddenly surged in the Philippines after a typhoon earlier this year The typhoon seriously damaged the corn production in China [postponement of private procurement] Pinca added that the corn tender could not be held in the near future because the private company has decided to postpone all new procurement activities as long as possible Philippine corn imports depend on different tax structures The government issues a certificate to the importer The importer can import a specific quantity with the certificate, and the tax rate is 35% If the limit is exceeded, 65% of import tariff will be paid for importing corn "We expect the government to issue a new license in January," Pinca said Then the private traders can make the purchase strategic plan after March But don't worry now " The Philippines' corn import in 2001 is expected to be significantly lower than the 500000 tons in 2001, as most feed material buyers find that the price of imported Indian wheat is relatively cheap Pinca could not give specific data on corn imports this year He believed that Indian wheat performed well and was a very competitive alternative to the feed industry Commenting on the outlook for the industry, which produces about 6 million tons of commercial feed in the Philippines, Pinca said the industry hoped for a recovery in the second quarter of 2002 "We had expected a rebound in the last quarter of this year, but September 11th changed that," he said At present, the goal of most feed companies is to survive and avoid losses " He added that violence in some parts of the Philippines has also affected the business climate, but not much "There are concerns about the impact on corn planting and transportation, but this is not the case I've been shipping corn all over the country " (author:) share to feed Weibo share to: