MANILA, Oct 27 (Reuters) -
* The Philippines expects to harvest 8 million tonnes of
corn this
year, compared with last year's output of 7.7 million tonnes,
the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday
* A frequent importer of feed wheat and soybean meal, the
Southeast Asian country expects to end the year with corn stocks
equivalent to eight months of domestic requirements, Lorenzo
Caranguian, DA's National Corn Programme director, told a news
briefing
* Feed wheat and soybean mean are cheaper alternatives to
yellow
corn that poultry and hog raisers use as animal feed
* Local corn buyers have ramped up their purchases amid
plentiful
supply, with San Miguel Corp's SMC.PS food unit buying 436,209
tonnes in January-September, while Cargill Philippines expects
its purchases this year to exceed 100,000 tonnes