NFA spokesperson Rex Estoperez said this is to plug the expected shortfall in the country’s production which is starting to show.
This year its target of 17.3 million metric tons of palay is not likely to be achieved, with the Department of Agriculture (DA) projecting that total production would reach just 16.8 million MT based on third quarter figures.
Estoperez said, however, that they are in no hurry to seek out suppliers.
”Usually, we schedule a tender in December because the total national inventory is low. But this time, there is no haste because we have a lot of rice stocks,” he said, adding that they would hold a bidding for private rice traders in the first quarter of 2009.
The Philippines normally starts buying imported rice in December up to the first and second quarter of the succeeding year to beef up government stocks in preparation for the lean months of July to September.
Estoperez said the NFA has a rice inventory of 960,000 metric tons (MT) while Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) data show that the total national inventory of milled rice as of Oct. 1 was at 2.18 million tons.
The NFA maintains a 30-day buffer stock which is equivalent to 990,000 MT of rice, during the lean months. At any time, the NFA has enough stocks to last 15 days, or 495,000 MT.
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