New record set in Filipino meat imports
The Philippines’s meat imports in 2021 reached a new record-high of 1.165 million tonnes, driven by higher pork purchases abroad as the country plugged the shortfall in domestic supply due to African swine fever.
Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data showed that total meat imports last year was 30.29% higher than the 894,698.528 tonnes recorded in 2020, the previous highest import volume by the country.
The country’s pork imports in 2021 more than doubled to 554,697.998 tonnes from 256,017.459 tonnes in 2020 as a result of the government’s twin measures to boost domestic pork supply.
The government lowered pork tariffs last year and expanded its minimum access volume (MAV) by 200,000 MT to limit the increazse in prices by securing a larger supply of meat in the domestic market. The country has been reeling from the impact of ASF on the local pig production, which was down by 20% last year. Imports of pork bellies and pork cuts, which benefited from lower tariffs and expanded MAV, accounted for half of the total pork volume imported last year. Volume of imported pork bellies and pork cuts reached 272,634.023 tonnes, nearly triple the 92,442 tonnes imported in 2020, based on BAI data. Spain was the largest pig meat supplier in the Filipino market last year ( 139,211.662 tonnes), followed by Canada (105,863.273 tonnes) and the United States (66,224.315 tonnes).
The country’s chicken meat imports last year grew slightly to 404,711.559 tonnes from 402,700.069 tonnes, as mechanically deboned meat (MDM) imports were down by 13% year-on-year due to constrained supplies.
The country’s imports of chicken leg quarters last year grew by 41.94% to 113,403.576 tonnes from 79,894.371 tonnes, while imports of chicken cuts increased by 3% year-on-year to 39,599.832 tonnes, based on BAI data.
Chicken MDM imports, which account for more than half of the annual chicken meat purchases abroad, fell to 236,742.040 tonnes from 273,814.91 tonnes. The lower chicken MDM imports was attributed to fewer sources abroad, as the Philippines banned most European suppliers due to bird flu concerns. The country’s top supplier of chicken meat last year was Brazil at 148,558.158 tonnes followed by the United States at 142,699.584 tonnes, BAI data reveals.
The same report mentioned that buffalo meat imports last year rose by 31.42% year-on-year to 45,479.574 tonnes from 34,606.228 tonnes, while beef imports declined by 20% year-on-year to 158,716.790 tonnes. Lamb imports plunged by 73% to 515.987 tonnes from 1,912.058 tonnes, while duck imports declined 41.8% to 56.691 tonnes from 97.421 tonnes, based on BAI data. Meanwhile, turkey imports last year rose by more than half to 1,505.345 tonnes from 979.968 tonnes in 2020.
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