THE NATIONAL Food Authority (NFA) has given the notice of awards to three winning bidders for the supply of a total 75,000 metric tons of rice, the grain agency said yesterday in a press release. The prices for the 25% broken well-milled long grain white rice averaged $484.92 per MT, including freight. Of the total rice imports, which will be delivered this August and September, 65,000 MT will be sourced from Thailand and the remaining 10,000 MT from Pakistan. Last week, the country held its first open tender this year after buying 1.5 million MT of rice from Vietnam worth $824.250 million under a government-to-government deal in December last year. The Philippines, the world’s biggest rice importer, opted for state-to-state negotiations that time in a bid to prevent prices from approaching the record-high $1,080/MT hit in April last year, from $350-$400/MT in December 2007.

There were 10 bidders in the open tender last week. Asia Golden Rice Co., Ltd., won the right to supply a total of 47,000 MT of rice at $487/MT, while Thai Hua Co., Ltd. and Toepfer International Asia Pte, Ltd. will supply 18,000 MT and 10,000 MT at $486.28 and $472.72/MT, respectively.

NFA Administrator Jessup P. Navarro said in the statement that the volume will enable the agency to improve its stocks and preempt any abnormal price increases in the lean July-September period.

The 25% broken rice is sold at subsidized prices of P18.25 and P25 per kilogram, NFA public affairs director Rex C. Estoperez said yesterday in a phone interview. — Neil Jerome C. Morales