More rice imports planned

The Philippines plans to buy more rice on top of its planned 750,000 tonnes of imports that was awarded to suppliers from Thailand and Vietnam Thursday, the country’s economic planning chief said. “We will,” Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan told foreign correspondents in a forum, when asked if the government will import additional volumes. The country’s state grains procurement agency, National Food Authority, has sought 750,000 tonnes for delivery from November to March next year amid falling stocks and a crop-damaging El Niño dry weather pattern that is forecast to be among the strongest in 65 years. (Reuters)