Research Says That PH Will Continue to Source Dairy From Abroad

The United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) in Manila has mentioned that with the continued disruptions in logistics, the Philippines would keep sourcing almost all of its dairy needs from abroad.

USDA-FAS has stated that the Philippines is still a “competitive” market for imported dairy products, with the country only producing 1% of its total requirement.

“The industry is affected by global shipping bottlenecks, the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and rising prices,” mentioned USADA-FAS Manila in its report on Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain).

“There is no quick solution, but dairy importers will continue to ship imported dairy products despite all these challenges to address the country’s increasing demand.”

USDA-FAS estimates that the dairy output of the Philippines would increase to 26,800 metric tons (MT) for this year as it will be increased by a larger dairy herd as a product of the fairly development of the government “geared towards increasing milk production.”

“Dairy consumption reached 3 million MT in 2021. Post sees these combined factors leading to greater dairy consumption,”  says USDA-FAS Manila.

“Rising consumption is also supported by infrastructure investments, particularly in cold chain facilities, supermarkets, and display areas.”

The report by USDA-FAS Manila also shows that the country’s total dairy imports were at 3.05 million MT last 2021.

“The limited local supply makes the Philippines a competitive market for dairy imports, with the United States and New Zealand having the largest shares,” says the report.

“According to NDA data, overall imports grew by 3.4 percent in volume terms and 10.8 percent in value terms in 2021. FAS Manila sees overall dairy imports recovering in 2022 as the economy reopens, most of the population becomes vaccinated, and business operations expand,”

Source: Business Mirror