Vietnam to sell 130,000 tons of rice to Philippines

Farmers harvest rice in the Mekong Delta. Vietnamese rice firms secured deals on May 4 to supply 130,000 tons of rice for the Philippines - PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH

CAN THO – Vietnam secured a deal on May 4 to supply 130,000 tons of rice for the Philippines at prices lower than those in the failed government-to-government tender on April 27.

The director of a rice exporting company in the Mekong Delta told the Daily on May 4 that the volume consists of 50,000 tons of 15% broken rice and 80,000 tons of 25% broken rice.

Meanwhile, Thailand, the only rival of Vietnam in the tender last week, will sell 120,000 tons of 25% broken rice to the Philippines.

The new reference prices of the National Food Authority (NFA) of the Philippines for 15% and 25% broken rice were US$531 and US$520.5 a ton respectively, up US$47.37 and US$46.32 compared to the previous failed tender.

Vietnam offered its respective bids of US$526.5 and US$517.5 a ton for 15% and 25% broken rice. They were US$3.5 a ton lower than in the earlier tender.

Thailand, on the other hand, offered to sell 120,000 tons of 25% broken rice at US$520 per ton, which was eventually lowered to US$517.5 to match Vietnam’s offer.

As such, the bidding was successful as the governments of Thailand and Vietnam both offered their bids that were below the NFA reference prices.

Senior rice market analyst Nguyen Dinh Bich precisely predicted that Vietnamese rice companies would place the lower bids to win the contract.

The US$3.5 cut was not sharp. If prices of finished rice, the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Vietnamese dong, and other relevant costs are taken into account, Vietnam’s offered prices were already high.

Vietnam and Thailand were invited to the tender as they had signed memoranda of understanding with the Philippines.

By May 31, 200,000 tons of 25% broken rice will have been shipped to the Philippines and the remaining 50,000 tons of 15% broken rice by June 30, according to the NFA.