Vietnamese rice unloaded at Subic port
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — A total of 395,000 bags of rice from Vietnam were unloaded here from the bulk carrier MV Morning Star over the weekend, bringing to 1.8 million bags the rice imports that passed through the Subic port since February.
Aside from MV Morrning Star, two other ships were scheduled to dock over the weekend to bring in rice from Vietnam. These were MV Saigon 5, with additional 300,000 bags, and MV Harpoon with 120,000 bags.
Perfecto Pascual, seaport department manager of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, said four other ships have docked here to unload rice imported by the National Food Authority.
These were MV Liberty Eagle, which delivered 881,186 bags of rice from the United States; MV Thai Binh, with 283,000 bags; MV My Hung, with 120,000 bags; and MV My An; with 149,000.
Jaime Juan, NFA provincial manager for Zambales, said the shipment was meant to fill in the expected rice supply gap for the coming lean season of palay production, from June to August or September.
“We will bring these bags of rice to Regions II and III (Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon) for buffer stocking, but part of the shipment will be for distribution in places where NFA sells rice," Juan said.
“There is really no rice supply crisis. If you go to the market, you can see that there is plenty of commercial rice available," Juan said. “But since NFA rice is cheap, it is only natural that people would flock to the NFA stalls," he added.
Juan said that since February, about 1.8 million bags of rice were imported for buffer stocking in Regions II and III. This meant that the imports are reserved rice supply intended for the lean months and for emergencies.
In 2007, the country had a total rice production of 16.24 million metric tons and imported 1.8 MMT, Juan said.
This year, the total rice production is expected to reach 18.5 MMT, but the NFA needs to import at least 2.1 MMT to augment the country’s rice supply, he added.
Juan said the NFA to date has imported 1.2 MMT of rice. The remaining 900,000 MMT to be sourced from other rice-producing countries is still scheduled for bidding, Juan said. - JOHN BAYARONG, GMANews.TV
Aside from MV Morrning Star, two other ships were scheduled to dock over the weekend to bring in rice from Vietnam. These were MV Saigon 5, with additional 300,000 bags, and MV Harpoon with 120,000 bags.
Perfecto Pascual, seaport department manager of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, said four other ships have docked here to unload rice imported by the National Food Authority.
These were MV Liberty Eagle, which delivered 881,186 bags of rice from the United States; MV Thai Binh, with 283,000 bags; MV My Hung, with 120,000 bags; and MV My An; with 149,000.
Jaime Juan, NFA provincial manager for Zambales, said the shipment was meant to fill in the expected rice supply gap for the coming lean season of palay production, from June to August or September.
“We will bring these bags of rice to Regions II and III (Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon) for buffer stocking, but part of the shipment will be for distribution in places where NFA sells rice," Juan said.
“There is really no rice supply crisis. If you go to the market, you can see that there is plenty of commercial rice available," Juan said. “But since NFA rice is cheap, it is only natural that people would flock to the NFA stalls," he added.
Juan said that since February, about 1.8 million bags of rice were imported for buffer stocking in Regions II and III. This meant that the imports are reserved rice supply intended for the lean months and for emergencies.
In 2007, the country had a total rice production of 16.24 million metric tons and imported 1.8 MMT, Juan said.
This year, the total rice production is expected to reach 18.5 MMT, but the NFA needs to import at least 2.1 MMT to augment the country’s rice supply, he added.
Juan said the NFA to date has imported 1.2 MMT of rice. The remaining 900,000 MMT to be sourced from other rice-producing countries is still scheduled for bidding, Juan said. - JOHN BAYARONG, GMANews.TV
Labels: rice, subic bay freeport
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
5:49 AM
1 Comments:
If there is no rice shortage, why is the price of rice in the market P35 per kilo?
By
Anonymous, at 4/16/2008 6:04 AM
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