13 bidders win rice import rights; NFA to bare others soon

Eleven private companies and two cooperatives have won the rights to import 255,348 metric tons (MT) of rice — two-fifths of the allocated volume for private sector importation, National Food Authority (NFA) administrator Angelito Banayo disclosed Monday. “The winning bidders were already informed. They can already place their orders as early as tomorrow if they want," Banayo told reporters in an interview at the NFA’s Quezon City office. The NFA will award the remaining three-fifths to 17 more companies and a number of cooperatives “within the week," he added. The total volume for private sector importation — 600,000 MT — forms the bulk of the Philippines’ 860,000-MT rice import allocation for 2011. The government will bring in 200,000 MT of this volume, while 60,000 MT has been allotted to small farmers and small farmers’ cooperatives. Banayo had earlier said the government will determine if the country will need to increase its rice import allocation based on a report by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics to be released by April 7. In Luzon, six companies and a cooperative passed the qualifications to import rice. These groups include the Bulay Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Linezza Commercial, Veramar RiceMill and Trading, Cylix Technologies Inc., Red Hannigan Ent., Thunder Gulch Mktg., and Mountain Glory Agro-Sales Corp. In Visayas and Mindanao, meanwhile, five companies and a cooperative won the rights to bring in rice to the Philippines. These groups include CP Cereal Trading, RJD Grains and Cereal Mktg., Ilas Norte Multi-Purpose Cooperative, RSG Trading, Phoenix Agri Trade Ent., and Conquistar Mktg. — PE/VS, GMA News