19 TRADERS KEEN ON BIDDING FOR 250,000-MT RICE FOR PH
AT least 19 foreign rice traders are interested in bidding today, Tuesday, to supply the 250,000 metric tons of rice needed by the Philippines, the National Food Authority (NFA) said.
NFA Deputy Administrator Tomas Escarez, who chairs the Special Bids and Awards Committee, said the traders are from Myanmar.
Manila is set to import P5.6 billion worth of rice through an open bidding, or government-to-private sector arrangement, to boost its buffer stock for the lean season.
Of the 19 traders, 10 are from from Singapore, and one from Myanmar.
- ment Production Trading Services and Tan Long Group Joint Stock Company.
From Thailand, interested bid and Thai Capital Crops Company Limited. From Singapore: Olam International Limited and Louis Dreyfus Company. And from Myanmar: Swhe Wah Yaung Agriculture Production Co. Ltd.
The total volume of 250,000 MT will be divided into six lots of 25,000 MT each and two lots of 50,000 MT each. A bidder can make a bid for a maximum of 50,000 MT only.
“The volume was divided into lots to allow more private sector participation and to give a chance to small bidders to participate,” Escarez said.
The reference price for the importation was set at $451.08 per metric ton based on a foreign exchange rate of $1.00:P50.00.
Bids are priced in US dollars per metric ton with all deliveries paid for by the NFA within 15 days.
The rice deliveries must be staggered from August to September, with 120,000 MT expected to arrive in August and 130,000 MT in September.
The discharge ports are Poro Pt., for 100,000 MT.
Earlier, the PSA reported that rice prices in the retail market rose the lean months.
The average price of palay week of July, was up 3.41 percent