Vietnam may not take part in Philippine rice tender
Source: 03-MAY-2008 Intellasia | Thanhniennews
May 3, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM Vietnam, the world's second-biggest rice exporter, may not take part in a Philippine tender next week as it seeks to secure domestic supplies and curb price increases.

"We're asking for the government's instruction on whether or not to participate in this tender, but it's very likely that we won't go,'' Nguyen Thi Nguyet, general secretary of the Vietnam Food Association, said Tuesday.

The association represents domestic producers and traders.

Rice suppliers from Thailand, the biggest exporter, too would not participate in the May 5 tender for 675,000 metric tonnes because the Philippines government did not guarantee the contracts, a Thai commerce ministry official said Monday.

The Philippines is seeking the grain to meet domestic demand amid a global shortage that has more than doubled prices in the past year.

Nguyet said, "We've heard that Thailand will not participate in the Philippine bid, but from our side there are also different issues that we have to consider very carefully," but declined to give further details.

Vietnam banned speculators from the local market this week in an attempt to stem price increases, according to a statement posted on the cabinet's Web site.

Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung said in the posting that "evil elements" were spreading rumours of rice shortages in Vietnam to benefit from a surge in prices.

Export curbs

Vietnam said Wednesday that it would cut rice exports by 11% to four million tonnes this year to ensure supply of the staple for its 85 million population.

The Vietnam Food Association has asked members to stop signing rice export contracts until June.

Still, rice exporters from the Mekong delta, the major rice producing region, said the country should take part in the Philippine tender.

"We don't want to keep lots of rice in stock," Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, director of the Bac Lieu Food Co., told a meeting on rice stockpiles Tuesday.

"The longer we keep the rice the more we have to pay for bank interest."

Tien Giang Food Co (Tigi Food) was paying about 4 billion dong (US$248,000) in bank interest every month, said Tigi Food's director Nguyen Ngoc Nam.

His company had about 15,000 tonnes of rice stockpiled and ready for export, he added.

As of April, Vietnam had exported 1.4 million tonnes of rice worth US$593 million, a year-on-year increase of 8% in volume and 61% in value, Truong Thanh Phong, general director of the Vietnam Southern Food Corp., said at the meeting.

Vietnam plans to export 3.2 million tonnes of rice by September.

Rice stocks were about 1.3 million tonnes and, with crops harvested until the end of the year, the country could meet the export target while still leaving enough for domestic consumption, Phong added.