Vietnam wins Philippines rice contract

Workers load rice onto a ship docked at Sài Gòn Port. Vietnamese businesses won a contract to supply 175,000 metric tonnes of rice to the Philippines. — VNA/VNS Photo Đình Huệ

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese businesses won a contract to supply 175,000 metric tonnes (MT) of rice to the Philippines via an open tender for 250,000 metric tons of government’s rice importation, which was organised by the National Food Authority (NFA) in Quezon City on July 25.

The news was confirmed by Chairman of the Việt Nam Food Association Huỳnh Thế Năng.

Năng said the tender was conducted under G2P (Government to Public), not G2G (Government to Government) under the memorandum of understanding on rice trade between Việt Nam and the Philippines.

The rice imports will be 25 per cent broken, well-milled, long grain white rice.

The four Vietnamese winners are Vietnam Southern Food Corp II, Tân Long Group Joint Stock Company and Hiệp Lợi Food JSC. The remaining 75,000 tonnes was won by foreign companies.

At the tender, the total volume of 250,000 MT is divided into eight lots: six lots of 25,000 MT each and two lots of 50,000 MT each. A bidder can bid for a maximum of 50,000 MT only.

"The volume was divided into lots to allow more private sector participation and to give small bidders a chance to participate," NFA Deputy Administrator Tomas Escarez, who chairs the special bids and awards committee for this importation, said in a message on the NFA website.

There were 20 companies qualified to attend the tender from Việt Nam, Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar. Of which, eight were from Việt Nam.

Năng said the rice exporters would supply rice from different ports so that the bid price would be different. Official information on the bid prices was not yet available.

However, this was the first time the Philippines announced the ceiling price on Cost Insurance and Freight (CIF) at US$450 per tonne, which is equal to $380 per tonne based on average free-on-board (FOB) prices in HCM City, Năng said.

According to the terms of reference of the importation, all deliveries shall be paid by NFA within 15 days from receipt of the complete set of original documents from the suppliers.

The Vietnamese rice exporters will deliver rice to the Philippines in August and September, Năng said