Viet Nam has won a bid to supply 130,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines after the National Food Authority (NFA)’s auction on importing 250,000 tonnes.

The remaining 120,000 tonnes will be supplied by Thai producers.

According to NFA, Viet Nam will supply 50,000 tonnes of 15 per cent broken rice to the Philippines at US$526.5 per tonne and 80,000 tonnes of 25 per cent broken rice at $517.5 per tonne.

Vietnamese and Thai enterprises will deliver 100,000 tonnes of 25 per cent broken rice from now until May 31. The deadline for the supply of rice from Viet Nam and Thailand is May 16 for 25 per cent broken rice and June 30 for 15 per cent broken rice.

NFA said it would open another auction on importing rice on May 22.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Viet Nam’s rice export value in the first four months reached VND1.092 billion, a year-on-year increase of 38.3 per cent. This result was possible in the beginning of the year when Viet Nam won contracts to export rice to large markets.

Indonesia opened two auctions on importing rice in the first quarter of 2018 after two years. The first auction was in January, where Viet Nam won a bid to supply 141,000 tonnes. In the second auction in April, the country won an export contract of supplying 300,000 tonnes to Indonesia. Delivery time for the rice exports is from May to July.

The export value of rice has also increased sharply this year because of the high demand in China and the Philippines. Iraq is also emerging as one of the strong importers of Vietnamese rice.

According to the Viet Nam Food Association, the export volume of rice this year is expected to reach some 6.5 million tonnes. Of this, about 2.7 million tonnes will be shipped to China, 800,000 tonnes to the Philippines, 800,000 tonnes to Indonesia, 500,000 tonnes to Malaysia, 200,000 tonnes to Iraq and one million tonne to Africa. — VNS