Manila eyes emergency rice fund after auction

The Philippines said on Tuesday it may tap a emergency regional rice fund after it attracted only 335,500 tonnes at a tender, less than two thirds of the volume asked for and at significantly higher prices.
A senior government official said the Philippines was considering asking for supplies from the East Asia Emergency Rice Reserve, a stockpile sourced from Southeast Asian countries as well as China, Japan and South Korea. "We have already communicated to the East Asian partners," Ludovico Jarina, a deputy administrator in the National Food Authority (NFA), told reporters, adding that any rice they source from the reserve would be bought at either spot market prices or via bidding.
The Philippines, one of the world's biggest rice importers, is having trouble sourcing enough of its national staple to meet this year's import requirement of up to 1.8 million tonnes due to soaring prices and tight world supply. At Tuesday's auction, prices ranged from $618.50-$745 a tonne, including cost and freight, a big jump from the last rice tender in January, when the average price was $474.41 per tonne.
The Philippines was looking to source 550,000 tonnes of rice on Tuesday for delivery between March and May. It has failed in two previous auctions to secure the full rice volume due to climbing prices.
LOANS: Last month, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo went outside normal commercial channels to ask the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to guarantee a supply of up to 1.5 million tonnes of rice.
But Hanoi said it could only ensure a shipment of 1 million tonnes, including a volume of around 700,000 tonnes which Vietnamese traders have already agreed to supply after auctions in January and December. There were 10 bidders on Tuesday. At least 130,500 tonnes were offered from Thailand, 30,000 from Vietnam, 10,000 from Pakistan and the remainder of 165,000 tonnes from a combination of the three countries as well as China.
Manila had asked for bids for 450,000 tonnes of 25 percent broken rice, 50,000 tonnes of 15 percent broken rice and another 50,000 tonnes of 5 percent broken rice. Jarina said bids would be awarded within five days. So far, Manila has ordered 876,700 tonnes of its national staple, largely from Vietnamese suppliers.