Rice Crop Storm Losses Widen 25% in Philippines, Official Says

By Luzi Ann Javier

Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Rice crop losses in the Philippines from Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma have increased by 25 percent from previous estimates to 1 million tons, widening the shortfall in the world’s biggest importer, an official said.

The Southeast Asian nation’s crop losses increased from an earlier estimate of 800,000 tons, Agriculture Undersecretary Emmanuel Paras said today. Typhoon Mirinae is bearing down on the country and is expected to make landfall this weekend.

The Philippine weather bureau today raised the typhoon warning in seven of the nation’s largest rice-producing regions, including the three biggest growers.

About a third of the crop in areas that may be affected by Typhoon Mirinae has yet to be harvested, Paras said. Rice output in those regions was forecast at 3.26 million tons, the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics said in an August report. The country’s total fourth-quarter output was forecast at 6.5 million tons.

The Philippines will bring forward imports for 2010 after losses from Ketsana and Parma, National Food Administrator Jessup Navarro said Oct. 26.

Global output is forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fall below demand by 2.4 million metric tons in 2009-2010, tightening supply and pushing prices higher.

The Philippines and India are the two “problem countries right now that can tilt the market one way or the other,” International Rice Research Institute senior economist Samarendu Mohanty said on Oct. 28.

“We are not very far from another rerun of 2008 prices,” Arthur Yap, the Philippines’ Agriculture Secretary, said at a conference in Cebu, central Philippines, on Oct. 28.

Indian Imports

India, the world’s second-largest rice grower, may become a net importer for the first time in 21 years in 2010 and may purchase as much as 3 million tons, Mohanty said. He forecast the South Asian nation’s output in the wet season will drop by 20 million tons to 65 million tons.

Food price protests swept the globe from Bangladesh to Haiti last year after fears of shortages prompted producers including India to cut rice exports and importers increased purchases to secure supplies, sending prices to a record.

Rice for January delivery climbed for a fourth straight day, gaining as much as 1.6 percent to $14.635 per 100 pounds in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade. The most-active contract was up 1.3 percent at $14.60 as of 3:13 p.m. Singapore time. The price surged to a record $25.07 in April 2008.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Manila at ljavier@bloomberg.net