International rice prices on the rise

Bid prices for rice during yesterday’s tender conducted by the National Food Authority were up by as much as $167 compared to offers during the Dec. 1 tender, prompting the agency to hold off awarding the Dec. 1 tender.

NFA Deputy Administrator Ludovico Jarina said they have 10 working days or up to Dec. 15 to award the results of the Dec. 1 rice tender.

Ludovico said the bids submitted yesterday were on the high side, although this did not really surprise the bids and awards committee (BAC) members.

In the Dec. 1 rice tender bids ranged from a low of $598 to a high of $697 per metric ton. Bids yesterday ranged from a low of $618 to a high of $749/MT.

Five frms submitted bids Chaiyaporn Rice Co. Ltd., Vinafood, and Toepfer Int’l, Capital Cereals Co. Ltd and Daewoo Int’l. The first three also participated in the Dec. 1 tender.

During yesterday’s tender, Vinafood once again submitted the lowest offer bid of $618.95/MT for an initial volume of 100,000 MT, although it submitted a range of bids for a total volume of 600,000 MT.

Jarina said the NFA has the option not to award, or just make a partial award based on the evaluation to be made by the BAC to NFA Administrator Jessup Navarro.

For the Dec. 8 tender, Jarina said that the grains agency has 10 working days to make an award.

Jarina pointed out that while the bids appear high, the prices are based on projections of the rice prices by the time of delivery or from February to May 2010.

Jarina said the NFA also has the option to make re-orders of 25 percent of the awarded volume up to six month from the date of the tenders. He said any decision to pursue a government-to-government purchase of rice is not within the authority of the NFA, but would be a Cabinet-level decision.