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Philippines may buy less than 500,000 tons of rice from Vietnam
The Philippines, the world’s largest rice buyer, may purchase less than 500,000 tons from Vietnam in January, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said.
It is negotiating the price, Yap told reporters late Thursday. The nation is also in government-to-government talks with other exporters including Thailand, Yap said, declining to give details. The country bought 600,000 tons from Vietnam in its last purchase in June.
The price of rice, the staple diet for half the world, has dropped 41 percent from the record reached in April when the Philippines boosted purchases through public tenders and exporters including Vietnam curbed shipments after global stockpiles fell.
Rough rice for March delivery fell 0.6 percent to US$14.78 per 100 pounds (45.45 kg), in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade at 11:23 p.m. Vietnam time. Futures reached an all-time high of $25.07 on April 24.
The benchmark export price for white rice from Thailand, the world’s biggest shipper, fell to $574 a ton on December 11, from $585 a ton a week earlier, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
The Philippines paid $940 a ton, including freight costs, when it last purchased from Vietnam. At the time Thai rice was selling at $872 a ton.
Nigeria buys 250,000 tons
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation which has been mainly buying Thai grain, has recently ordered 250,000 tons from Vietnam, the Vietnamese envoy to Nigeria was quoted by a newspaper on Friday as saying.
“Recently many Nigerian firms arrived in Vietnam for a survey and found Vietnamese grain cheaper than Thai rice, and so they wanted to import the rice,” Do Van Bach was quoted by the Planning and Investment Ministry-run Dau Tu newspaper as saying.
He said an order has been placed for 250,000 tons of rice, but gave no further details on price or delivery.
Thai rice now quotes at $80 to $90 higher per ton than Vietnamese rice.
Nigeria often buys 1.2 million tons of rice annually, about 40 percent of it from Thailand. The 250,000 tons would suffice for the country of 140 million for around two months, traders said.
Bloomberg, Reuters
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