India, Cambodia and Pakistan have expressed interest to sell additional rice if the Philippines asks for more imports.
“These are just preliminary discussions. I we got assurance that whenever we want to go to the market, they are more than willing to provide us the volume we need,” National Food Authority Angelito Banayo said in an interview.
The NFA met with the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries last week to discuss a possible rice supply deal.
Banayo said he would meet with the Cambodian ambassador today for talks that may include rice sales. He noted that Cambodia had surplus rice which it could sell to interested buyers.
The Philippines has an existing rice supply agreement with Vietnam for a maximum of 1.5 million metric tons. The agreement, which was recently renewed by the government, is effective until 2013, when the Philippines expects to be self-sufficient in rice.
The NFA earlier said a draft memorandum of agreement for a similar rice supply agreement with Thailand was awaiting the signature of President Benigno Aquino III.
Vietnam and Thailand are traditional sources of imported rice for the Philippines. The Philippines, the world’s top importer of rice, is importing 860,000 MT, with 200,000 MT already ordered from Vietnam under a government-to-government supply contract.
The private sector and farmers’ groups will account for the balance of 660,000 MT after NFA held two separate tenders last month and last week. The rice shipments are expected to arrive on or before June 30, 2011, or 60 days after the issuance of the invitation to bid.
The Agriculture Department said it would end rice imports and rely on local production by 2013.
Banayo said rice imports for the year might go up if palay production from January to June failed to meet the projected production increase of 15.3 percent.
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