"The government is ready to export 50,000-150,000 metric tons of corn. This will come from Isabela, Pangasinan, Mindoro and Bukidnon, among other provinces," the statement yesterday quoted NFA Administrator Jessup P. Navarro as saying.
The state grain agency said it has gotten in touch with its counterparts in Vietnam who have committed to prioritize buying Philippine yellow corn, the main ingredient in animal feeds.
An official of the Vietnam Food Association said on Friday that Hanoi would buy as much as 500,000-800,000 MT of corn from the Philippines. "The Philippines has been buying millions of tons of rice from Vietnam, so, in exchange, we would buy corn under a trade deal between ASEAN members," said Nguyen Tho Tri, deputy chairman of the association.
"We have consulted with the local corn farmers, and we have reached agreeable terms [sic]," Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said in the same statement, adding that the NFA will buy yellow corn at P10 per kilogram.
Given the corn for exports, the NFA doubled its corn procurement target to 600,000 MT, he added.
"When prices are low in the domestic market, the NFA will export corn," Dennis B. Araullo, Agriculture assistant secretary and the director of the National Corn Program, said yesterday in a phone interview.
The NFA in June earmarked P2.8 billion and P892 million to buy 230,000 MT and 65,000 MT of yellow and white corn, respectively, at P13/kg. The NFA said the 295,000-MT of corn will be sold to local hog and poultry raisers, as well as to feed millers.
Under the buying program from June to July, the agency bought a total of 19,171 MT of corn from local farmers, NFA data show.
Roger V. Navarro, president of industry group Philippine Maize Federation, Inc. (Philmaize), welcomed the plan to export, but claimed that the NFA has yet to pay farmers.
"The government has to address the surplus harvest so exporting to Vietnam is good," Mr. Navarro said yesterday in a phone interview.
However, he said "our members say that NFA has no money yet [to pay for the corn]. Some have delivered corn to NFA warehouses 15-30 days ago, but they were not paid yet."
He stressed the urgency of paying corn farmers promptly, warning that farmers who will be harvesting corn in Cagayan Valley next month many not sell to the government.
Current prices of corn in Luzon and Mindanao have fallen to about P4.50-P8 per kilo, lower than the production cost of P9-P10/kg, from about P20/kg in January amid dampened demand, industry data show.
"We have a big surplus because there are many [sic] imported feed wheat, so corn prices have dropped," Mr. Navarro explained.
Executive Order 765, which was effect in January-June 21, removed the 7% duty on feed wheat, a substitute for yellow corn in feeds. Private traders imported 1.1 million MT of feed wheat under 0% tariff.
Philmaize estimates that there will be 800,000-900,000 MT of excess corn this year. Full-year corn production will rise 2.26% to 7.09 million MT given expansion in harvest area and higher yield, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics estimates show. — with Reuters
