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MYANMAR, Cambodia and Pakistan are seeking to expand their share of the Philippine rice market, as Vietnam maintains its position as the dominant rice supplier of the country.

At the International World Rice Conference 2026 in Manila, representatives of the three countries outlined their ambitions to increase shipments to the Philippines.

The Philippines’s rice imports reached 3.98 million metric tons (MMT) in September, surpassing the 3.39 MMT recorded for the whole of 2025, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) expecting arrivals to exceed 5 MMT this year amid the threat of El Niño 

Vietnam remained the country’s leading supplier, accounting for 2.59 MMT of rice arrivals in July, followed by Thailand with 378,404.278 metric tons (MT), according to Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data.

Myanmar ranked third with 286,052.65 MT, while Pakistan supplied 107,485.5 MT and Cambodia 87,802 MT during the same period.

Myanmar Rice Federation Chairman Ye Min Aung said Myanmar had shipped more than 400,000 MT of rice to the Philippines from January to September this year, compared with an average of about 200,000 MT annually since 2022-2023.

“This year, we have exported more than 400,000,” Aung said.

He added that Myanmar was improving rice varieties sought by Filipino buyers and working with Vietnamese counterparts to develop varieties that could offer competitive prices.

“We want to ensure affordable and competitive prices to our Filipino consumers,” he said.

CEO of Cambodia City Rice Imports & Exports Okhna Chhun Hour “Andy” Lay also said their country is seeking to expand its Philippine market.

According to Lay’s report, more than 150,000 MT of rice were exported from Cambodia to the Philippines from January until September, compared to roughly only 100 containers in 2025.

“Cambodia has a great presence of export into the Philippine market. And this we appreciate all the support that the Philippines has given us,” Lay said.

“The export in 2026 has increased quite a large amount compared to last year in 2025.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan is positioning itself as a long-term supplier, with Fareeha Khan, trade and investment counsellor for the Trade & Development Association of Pakistan in the Philippines, saying the country could supply at least 1 MMT of rice annually to the Philippines.

“We can easily supply the Philippines with at least 1 million metric tons of rice annually and build a food-security partnership that would diversify its sources of supply and strengthen its resilience to market disruptions,” Khan said.

She said diversifying import sources would help strengthen the Philippines’ resilience to disruptions in global rice supply, arguing that countries should avoid relying too heavily on a limited number of suppliers.

“I think any country whose food security is dependent upon one or two commodities, they need at least 20 different sources,” she said.

In August, DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced that the Philippines will not suspend rice imports as it prepares for the effects of El Niño

Source : businessmirror