All rice imports due next month – DA

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January 23, 2026 | 12:00am

Late shipments to be returned

MANILA, Philippines —  About 300,000 metric tons (MT) of imported rice must arrive in the Philippines by Feb. 28, as late shipments will be returned to their countries of origin, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

“It (imported rice) needs to arrive on or before the end of February so it does not coincide with the bulk of the harvest in March and April,” DA Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa told reporters yesterday.

De Mesa said the move aims to ensure that the importation would not significantly affect the upcoming local rice harvest, when domestic production peaks.

Any consignments arriving after the deadline would be denied release and sent back to their source country at the importer’s expense, he noted.

This follows the lifting of the four-month import ban, which began last September, officially marking the country’s return to the international rice market at the start of the year.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel recently met with stakeholders and secured commitments from traders to continue purchasing palay at a minimum of P17 per kilo for wet and P21 per kilo for dry, depending on quality.

“Farmer prices are non-negotiable. Whatever import volume we agree on, farmers must be protected,” Tiu Laurel said, emphasizing that the government seeks to prevent farmgate prices from collapsing during the peak harvest.

Harvesting is already underway in parts of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya, with more areas such as Pangasinan, Ilocos, Bulacan and La Union expected to begin next month.

Large harvest volumes, meanwhile, are projected by mid-March, with milling activity set to ramp up further in April.

Given this, the DA intends to manage rice imports carefully to stabilize supply without undermining farmgate prices.

According to Tiu Laurel, the initial import volume of around 300,000 MT for February remains under review and may be adjusted depending on market developments.

As of mid-January, approximately 178,000 MT of imported rice had already arrived in the Philippines, based on the latest available data.

With rice importation resuming, De Mesa expects an uptick in prices, mainly due to the weakening of the peso against the dollar.

“It (rice prices) is slightly increasing, but it is not that high because the production data of India and Vietnam is also good. They also have a record harvest,” he said.

Imported regular milled rice is priced at P42 per kilo, up from P40 late last year, while imported well-milled rice fell to P44 per kilo from P45 over the same period, according to DA’s latest price monitoring.