The Philippines, the world's biggest rice importer, will likely have most of its 2010 needs met by Vietnam, which made unexpectedly low offers at a new tender to signal ample supplies and dampen expectations of price hikes.
State grain agency National Food Authority (NFA) said it may buy in full the 600,000 tonnes of rice it sought from Tuesday's tender, the fourth it called this year, with the highest offer rising less than $5 from a tender of the same volume last week.
On Tuesday, Vinafood 2 offered to sell 600,000 tonnes at $664.90 a tonne, the first time it made a single price offer for the entire volume of a tender and the only bid below $700.
"I think the Vietnamese will get the whole lot. Nobody knew they would offer below $700 and we were a bit shocked," said Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
"But it's proof that Vietnam has a lot of rice to sell."
NFA said on Monday it would buy 509,950 tonnes from the Dec. 1 tender. A government source said on Tuesday it may buy at least 474,000 tonnes from last week's tender.
That would bring the country's 2010 imports to just over 1.83 million tonnes if it makes a full award for the latest tender, less than the 2.05 million tonnes Manila was hoping to buy to augment supplies after storms hit crops.
Of the total volume, Vinafood 2, Vietnam's largest rice exporter, is likely to supply more than 1.25 million tonnes, after submitting the lowest prices at three of the four tenders.
Offers at the latest tender ranged from $664.90 to $772.88 per tonne, cost and freight for delivery between March and June, up slightly from Dec. 8 bids of $618.95-$768.50.
Prices at the Dec. 1 tender, the first in the series of 600,000 tonnes each, were up as much as 28 percent from a prior tender on Nov. 4, when Manila began buying for 2010.
Vinafood 2 was among five suppliers that offered to sell to Manila.