The Philippines, the world's largest buyer of rice, could decide its 2011 import plans before end-January, the Agriculture Secretary said on Friday, reiterating that shipments of the grain would be half or less than record imports for 2010.
The country had enough rice stocks to last at least two months, giving it time to decide its import needs, Proceso Alcala told reporters on Friday. Previously, the import process has started in the final quarter of the preceding year. "I'm sure that our imports this year will not be more than half of what we bought last year," said Alcala, who chairs the government panel that sets rice imports. The Philippines imported a record 2.45 million tonnes of rice to meet its 2010 needs. The government wants to become self-sufficient in rice production in 2013.