MEAT imports, mostly pork and chicken, exceeded 1 billion kilograms from January to July, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI).
Total meat shipments rose 10.98 percent to 1.02 billion kg from 919.82 million kg in the same seven-month period last year.
Pork accounted for more than half of total shipments, increasing 10.31 percent to 541.40 million kg from 490.81 million kg a year earlier.
Pork cuts comprised the largest volume at 233.15 million kg, followed by offal, 162.74 million kg; bellies, 77.44 million kg; fats, 43.99 million kg; and skin, 24.02 million kg.
Chicken imports also increased, up by 14.72 percent to 335.66 million kg from 292.60 million kg last year.
Mechanically deboned meat (MDM), or mechanically separated chicken, made up the bulk of poultry imports at 195.4 million kg, reflecting strong demand from the domestic canned food and meat processing industries.
Beef imports, however, slipped slightly to 110.57 million kg from 110.94 million kg a year earlier.
Yet buffalo meat imports jumped 31.29 percent to 32.56 million kg from 24.80 million kg.
Brazil remained the Philippines’ largest meat supplier at 491.19 million kg, or 48 percent of total imports, followed by the United States, 127.38 million kg; Australia, 54.10 million kg; the Netherlands, 49.30 million kg; and Canada, 46.80 million kg.
The increase in imports came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on May 19 issued Executive Order 116, raising the minimum access volume (MAV) for pork to 204,210 metric tons from 54,210 MT to boost supply and ease prices amid losses caused by African swine fever (ASF).
The order entailed 30,000 MT to be allocated to meat processors and 120,000 MT to Food Terminal Inc. and the Kadiwa ng Pangulo program.
The Department of Agriculture was also directed to draft implementing rules and regulations aimed at stabilizing pork supply and prices while protecting the long-term competitiveness of the domestic swine industry.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the average retail price of pork declined to P301.06 per kg in early August from P306.16 in the second half of July and P307.60 in the first half.
