Meat imports up 33% in H1

MANILA, Philippines — The entry of imported meat into the country reached over 870,000 metric tons (MT) in the first half of the year, driven by rising pork shipments.

Latest data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that meat imports rose by 33 percent to 872,274 MT in the January to June period, higher than the 778,100 MT in the same period last year.

Pork meat imports, which made up for more than half of the total meat import volume, expanded by 11 percent year-on-year to 455,381 MT from 409,693 MT the previous year.

Purchase of pork cuts abroad amounted to 204,183 MT while imports of pork offals hit 131,378 MT. The country also imported 65,558 MT of pork bellies and 34,348 MT of pork fat in the first semester.

To alleviate rising pork prices, President Marcos issued Executive Order 116 which raised the minimum access volume for imported pork to 204,210 MT from the 54,210 MT import quota.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) plans to use a price-based trigger system for the expanded MAV allocation, where imports at lower tariffs will be authorized once retail prices breach around P430 per kilo for at least a month.

Meanwhile, imports of chicken meat increased by almost 14 percent in the first half to 291,497 MT from 253,844 MT in the same period in 2025.

Shipments of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) amounted to 170,053 MT during the six-month period, making up 58 percent of all chicken imports.

MDM is among the vital ingredients used by meat processors to manufacture products like hotdog and meat loaf.

The country’s beef imports expanded by four percent year-on-year to 95,769 MT from 91,649 MT. BAI data showed that bulk of the imports were beef cuts which amounted to 62,141 MT.

The country’s top meat supplier during the January-June period was Brazil at 429,691 MT, followed by the US at 105,380 MT and Australia with 47,629 MT.