Bulog, Indonesia's state procurement agency, is to hold a rice tender on January 11 to seek a minimum 170,000 tonnes of Thai rice for delivery in January-March, traders said on Monday. The government has allowed Bulog to import rice this year to shore up falling stocks.
Bulog is looking for either premium 5-percent broken rice or 15-percent broken rice, said a trader who has received the tender announcement. "But Bulog may buy both. It will announce prices submitted by interested suppliers tomorrow," the trader said. "Participants can offer more than 170,000 tonnes."
The cargoes should be delivered between January and March to 16 ports across the country, he said. Indonesia has secured a total of 1.33 million tonnes of rice from Thailand and Vietnam for delivery until February 2011, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said at the end of December. Tuesday's tender will be an additional to the 1.33 million tonnes of rice bought earlier, said an official at Bulog who declined to be identified by name.