Philippines to import up to 500,000 tonnes of rice this year

The Philippines' National Food Authority (NFA) said on Monday that it has set a March 19 tender for permits to import 190,000 tonnes of rice - 38 percent of the approved maximum import volume of 500,000 tonnes for this year. Private importers will be allowed tariff-free rice purchases in exchange for paying a service fee to the NFA, the state rice procurement agency.
The minimum service fee has been set at 100 pesos ($2.34) per 50-kilogram bag of rice. The NFA said a pre-bid conference would be held on March 15, in a notice published in a local newspaper. The Philippines usually buys about 75 percent of its annual rice imports from No 2 exporter Vietnam and small volumes from the biggest seller Thailand. The price of Vietnam's winter-spring paddy, most of which is intended for export, has dropped to 5,000-6,300 dong (24-30 US cents) per kg in recent weeks from 5,300-6,300 dong in mid-February, weighed down by thin demand and ample supply.
Vietnam has allowed rice exporters to stockpile the equivalent of 1 million tonnes of milled rice for three months to prevent prices from falling during the harvest peak for the Mekong Delta from March 15. Philippine Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said last month that shipments for this year's rice imports should be completed before July, when the lean harvest season begins.
The Philippines, the world's biggest rice buyer in recent years, has cut imports to 500,000 tonnes this year after purchasing a record 2.45 million tonnes in 2010 and 860,000 tonnes last year. Annual rice imports may be reduced to 100,000 tonnes next year as the government aimed to become self-sufficient in the food staple by the end of 2013, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dante Delima said last month.
The authorities may raise the first-half rice output forecast by as much as 1 million tonnes because of changes in cropping patterns, making unplanned grain imports unlikely this year. The government wants farmers to advance the wet season rice harvest by two months from this year to April or May to avoid crop losses from typhoons.