VFA: Vietnam invited to attend Philippines rice tender

The National Food Authority (NFA) of the Philippines has invited Vietnam to participate in a tender to supply 250,000 tons of rice, thus making the local rice market more active, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).

Vietnamese long-grain rice. The National Food Authority (NFA) of the Philippines has invited Vietnam to participate in a tender to supply 250,000 tons of rice - PHOTO: TL

Nguyen Ngoc Nam, VFA chairman and general director of Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2), told the Daily that Thailand was also invited to the bidding for government-to-government (G2G) rice contracts.

The volume will include 200,000 tons of 25% broken rice and 50,000 tons of 15% broken rice. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is choosing rice exporters to join the tender which is set to take place on April 27, Nam said.

The director of a VFA member said Vietnam and Thailand may not attend the tender as the Philippines has set out stricter requirements than those in previous tenders. For instance, rice grains must be longer than seven millimeters each and must not be infected with insect carcasses.

Vietnam’s IR 50404 rice does not meet the requirement for the length of grain.

The Philippine Government has set aside 6.12 billion pesos, or over US$115 million, to import rice this time.

Vietnam and Thailand were invited to the tender as the two countries had singed memoranda of understanding with the Philippines. Winning bidders will have to deliver 200,000 tons of rice to the Philippines prior to May 31 and the remaining 50,000 tons before June 30.

NFA is required to have at least 15 days of buffer stock at any time and the rice import this time is aimed at increase the national rice reserves. The Philippines will import 500,000 tons of rice including 250,000 tons under G2G contracts and 250,000 tons under government-to-private contracts.

Vietnam earlier won a contract to sell rice to Indonesia at a competitive price. If Vietnam wins the Philippines tender this time, it would give a big boost to the local rice market, especially prices, in the upcoming summer-autumn rice crop.

Rice contracts with Indonesia and the Philippines have driven up domestic rice prices. Particularly, fresh IR 50404 rice is now sold at VND5,500-5,700 per kilogram while Dai Thom rice is priced at VND6,000-6,200 a kilogram, up VND500 and VND400-500 respectively.

Meanwhile, IR 50404 material rice price is up by VND300 to VND8,000-8,100 per kilogram and a kilogram of fragrant rice is currently quoted at VND9,300-9,500.