NFA receives offers for 306,298-T rice imports

MANILA, Philippines - The National Food Authority (NFA) received import offers for 306,298 tons of rice, nearly 50% higher than the volume it was eyeing, from private traders and farmer groups at a tender on Monday, a government official said.

The government needs to import just 205,152 tons rice, the remainder of this year's rice import allocation of 860,000 tons.

"The offers are still subject to further verification and we will know the results in two weeks," Gilbert Lauengco, special assistant to the NFA administrator, told Reuters after the auction.

Twenty one rice traders and farmer groups participated in the tender.

The Philippines, the world's top rice buyer in recent years, is purchasing only 860,000 tons this year, including the 200,000 tons the state grain agency bought from Vietnam under a government-to-government deal.

This year's planned import volume is just a third of last year's record purchases of 2.45 million tons.

Apart from Vietnam, the Philippines also buys rice from Thailand. Thai rice prices firmed last week on demand from Iraq, but Vietnamese levels eased due to thin buying demand after the end of its major crop harvest and with the market awaiting new deals.

The NFA has so far awarded import rights to private traders and farmer groups for a total 454,848 tons in two tenders in the past two months, after the government said it wants more private sector participation in rice purchases to ease the financial burden of the state grain agency.

Bids received by the NFA at the March and April tenders exceeded this year's 660,000-ton allocation for the private sector, but the state grain agency rejected some of the offers because bid documents were not in order.

Lauengco said a government-to-government deal for additional rice imports could be considered if the NFA is unable to award fully import rights for the remaining rice volume.

Last week, NFA Administrator Angelito Banayo said he remained optimistic all rice shipments for this year's needs would be completed before the lean harvest season starts in July.

(Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/02/11/nfa-receives-offers-306298-t-rice-imports)