Chaiyaporn Rice and Food Products Company Ltd, one of Thailand's major rice exporters, made the lowest offer at $508.40 a tonne, including cost, insurance and freight, in a Bangladesh tender to import 50,000 tonnes of parboiled rice, a food official said on Monday.
The state grains buyer issued the tender earlier this month as part of an effort to build reserves like other nations in the wake of record food prices. "The firm submitted the lowest offer among nine bidders that took part in the tender," the official said. The rice is to be shipped in 30 days after signing the deal.
Bangladesh earlier had paid $580 a tonne including cost and freight and $7-$8 a tonne for insurance to import 200,000 tonnes of parboiled rice from Thailand in its first government-to-government deal. Bangladesh is also buying 100,000 tonnes parboiled rice at $575/T including CIF and 100,000 tonnes white rice at $530 a tonne CIF from Vietnam under a government deal to be signed this week.
In another tender Bangladesh will buy 50,000 tonnes of wheat at $344.34 per tonne from India's Emmsons International Ltd. However, the state grains buyer has stopped floating new tenders for rice and wheat. "We are not going to issue new tenders for this fiscal year, ending in June, unless anyone defaults," said a senior official of the state grains buyer.
The government imported more than 1 million tonnes of rice and wheat during July-February period, and signed deals for around 1.1 million tonnes, food officials said. The government, battling a high food inflation rate of nearly 12 percent, is releasing 400,000/450,000 tonnes of grain a month from its reserves for continuing cut-price rice sales and other welfare programmes.
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