NFA sets bid for additional rice importation

MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) will hold a bidding on Dec. 1 for the purchase of an additional 600,000 metric tons of rice and is allotting a budget of P15.264 billion for this.

The NFA held a bidding last week for the purchase of 250,000 MT of long grain well-milled rice. Bid winners were the Vietnam Southern Foods (Vinafoods) and Daewoo International.

The NFA is frontloading the importation of rice for 2010 following the devastation caused by the series of typhoons that hit the country these past few weeks.

Palay losses have been estimated at around 750,000 metric tons which is roughly equivalent to about 500,000 MT of polished rice (at a 65 percent milling recovery rate).

 The targeted arrival for the 600,000 MT of imported rice is from February to May next year.

Source countries must be Thailand, Vietnam, China, Pakistan, Australia, USA and India. Minimum quantity to be offered per supplier must not be less than 100,000 MT.

However, maximum volume to be sourced from Pakistan, USA, Australia and India is 100,000 MT.

Shipments sourced from Vietnam, China and Thailand must have a maximum combined volume of 600,000 MT.

During last week’s bidding, the NFA was surprised by the reasonableness of the bids, with the winning bids not exceeding more than $480 per MT.

The Philippines is expected to import more than two million metric tons of rice this year. Some estimates indicate that the actual volume may be closer to three million following the devastation of rice crops.

The Philippines is also entering the market early to avoid a possible rise in rice prices as India, which had previously been a rice producer, is now resorting to rice imports following the devastation of its rice crops due to a prolonged drought.

India held a bidding for the purchase of 30,000 MT of rice yesterday.