The largest importer in the world. The Philippines suspend the purchase of rice 60 days

The Philippines, the world’s largest importer in the world, announced the import of rice for 60 days from 1 September, in a move aimed at supporting local farmers, and pressure can be exacerbated by international prices with the withdrawal of one of the most prominent buyers from the market. Dave Gomez, secretary of the presidential communications office, said in a statement on Wednesday that President Ferdinand Marcus made the decision to protect farmers suffering from low raw rice prices during the current harvest season. The announcement of the decision comes after the Minister of Agriculture, Francisco Tio Laurel, made a temporary stop into rice imports, as well as increased the customs lights to import it. Laurel explained that the flow of large amounts of imported rice that harms local producers, and mills can lead to the closure of their facilities. Call the prices of rice. This step represents a shift from a previous position that the Philippines took early this year, when it announced a state of emergency due to an “extraordinary” increase in local rice prices, which contributed to increasing inflation. However, the offer later improved, which helped calm the rice crop prices, which make up about 10% of the consumer price basket. The step that Manila has raised the global surplus, which has already pushed standard rice prices in Asia to the lowest levels in eight years. The largest rice importer in the world last month expected the Philippines to import 5.4 million tonnes of rice into the 2025-2026 season, bypassing the import of large countries such as Vietnam and Nigeria. Assistant Minister of Agriculture Arnil de Maysa said that the decision to suspend rice imports for 60 days coincides with the country’s most important harvesting season, as local supplies are sufficient. The production of raw rice, which is usually grown twice a year, reached about 9.08 million tonnes in the first half of 2025, while the government reaches a record level with a total of 20.46 million tonnes all year. Gomez said President Marcus was of the opinion that the time was not yet to discuss the increase of customs duties over rice imports, pointing out that “the case still evaluates, and it can use it if necessary.” Reduced fees to contain inflation that the government reduced the customs duties on 35% to 15% to 2028 last year, with the aim of combating inflation. The price of rice in the Philippines recorded a record decay by 15.9% during July. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Laurel described the decision to suspend rice imports while maintaining customs duties unchanged as a ‘studied response’ to the challenges that farmers face. Also: “Stoping the import is a more balanced procedure and can be withdrawn quickly if needed, giving us a greater movement margin to protect farmers and consumers at the same time.” He added: “Regarding the elevation of customs duties early, it can bring in reverse results, and it takes a much longer time to get away from it.” The expectation of the drop in rice prices, B in Krishna Rao, head of the ‘Rice Exporters Association’ in India, said the suspension of importing the Philippines is expected to increase pressure on world prices and affecting the most important suppliers such as India, Thailand and Vietnam. Rao expected “global rice prices to fall slightly in the short term.”