Imported rice from Vietnam to arrive next month

MANILA, Philippines- Part of the contracted volume of rice from Vietnam is expected to arrive next month, an official of the National Food Authority said on Thursday. The NFA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Manila was just scouting for a vessel to ship portion of the 500,000 metric tons of rice to be imported from Vietnam. “I heard they are already looking for a vessel. Although we are not informed how much will be arriving and when exactly the shipment will arrive. Our agency in Vietnam is scouting for a vessel," said the Food Agency official. He said the 500,000 tons shipment will arrive on a staggered basis spread out between February and March. “From what I heard the Philippine government entered into a government to government contract with Vietnam for a total contracted volume of 1.5 million metric tons," the source said. The Agriculture department has yet to give details about its government to government contract it has supposedly signed with Hanoi earlier this month. DA Secretary Arthur Yap said the agency is keeping mum on how much Manila will import this year since market speculations may affect the price of rice. But he said lesser volume will be imported this year owing to a bigger carryover stock from the 2008 harvest. Yap added that “all rice commitments have substantially been committed by suppliers already." He said suppliers have specifically requested Manila to refrain from divulging details about the contract. “Figures are to be left confidential unless they (suppliers) themselves make those public," Yap said in a previous interview. Last year, the government imported a record-high of 2.3 million MT rice versus an ouput of 16.82 million MT. This year the government is targeting a 5.8 percent growth in rice output to 17.81 million MT. GMANews.TV