The Philippines is looking to import up to 800,000 tonnes of rice this year to boost thinning stockpiles and curb local price increases.
While bumper harvests elsewhere have built a global rice glut, prices in the Philippines have climbed around 4 percent in the last three months after one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall – typhoon Haiyan – devastated key growing regions late last year.
Local supplies have also been declining as the government clamps down on smugglers looking to avoid hefty taxes.
Speaking at a press briefing, Filipino Agriculture Undersecretary Dante Delima said the economic managers see the import volume of 800,000 tonnes as crucial to stabilise local prices. He then declined to give further details.
Rice traders and farm experts raised the possibility that the Philippines might need to import as much as 2 million tonnes of the grain after missing its self-sufficiency target because of last year’s devastation.
According to Reuters, purchases by the Philippines, one of the world’s biggest buyers of the grain, could support falling rice prices in Asia, with both Vietnam and Thailand likely to bid aggressively for any new deal.
A trader in Bangkok said the business will go mainly to Thailand and Vietnam. The Philippines is looking for new crop, for which Vietnamese option is cheaper than its rivals.
The US Department of Agriculture forecast that Philippine rice imports will hit 1.4 million tonnes this year, which will be the highest in four years.
Overall rice stocks in the Philippines fell to 2 million tonnes, the lowest in four months in early February and local prices have risen for seven straight weeks, even after the National Food Authority bought 500,000 tonnes from Vietnam in a government-to-government deal in November.-VNA
While bumper harvests elsewhere have built a global rice glut, prices in the Philippines have climbed around 4 percent in the last three months after one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall – typhoon Haiyan – devastated key growing regions late last year.
Local supplies have also been declining as the government clamps down on smugglers looking to avoid hefty taxes.
Speaking at a press briefing, Filipino Agriculture Undersecretary Dante Delima said the economic managers see the import volume of 800,000 tonnes as crucial to stabilise local prices. He then declined to give further details.
Rice traders and farm experts raised the possibility that the Philippines might need to import as much as 2 million tonnes of the grain after missing its self-sufficiency target because of last year’s devastation.
According to Reuters, purchases by the Philippines, one of the world’s biggest buyers of the grain, could support falling rice prices in Asia, with both Vietnam and Thailand likely to bid aggressively for any new deal.
A trader in Bangkok said the business will go mainly to Thailand and Vietnam. The Philippines is looking for new crop, for which Vietnamese option is cheaper than its rivals.
The US Department of Agriculture forecast that Philippine rice imports will hit 1.4 million tonnes this year, which will be the highest in four years.
Overall rice stocks in the Philippines fell to 2 million tonnes, the lowest in four months in early February and local prices have risen for seven straight weeks, even after the National Food Authority bought 500,000 tonnes from Vietnam in a government-to-government deal in November.-VNA
