Despite record production and ample stocks, the Philippines is expected to import a record volume of rice in the 2024-2025 crop year, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan said on December 9 that the national rice stock has reached eight million tonnes by the end of 2024, so there will be no need for additional imports, including for the next year.
Indonesia has increased its rice import demand by 30,000 tonnes in August compared to the previous month, bringing the total to 350,000 tonnes, according to the latest tender announcement from the Indonesian National Logistics Agency (Perusahaan Umum BULOG).
Indonesia's state purchasing agency Bulog has issued an international tender to buy 500,000 tonnes of rice sought for arrival in February and March, with the offer deadline set at January 29.
The National Logistics Agency of Indonesia (Bulog) on November 6 announced that the country plans to set the 2024 rice import quota at 2 million tonnes, a decrease from 3.8 million tonnes this year.
Indonesia may procure another 500,000 tonnes of rice from abroad this year to fill up the diminishing government rice reserves, the Trade Ministry has said.
High prices of rice sold in the domestic market and for export in the recent past have fueled risks of origin fraud, influencing the prestige of Vietnamese rice in the global market, insiders have warned.
The Indonesian Bureau of Logistics (Bulog) said it will not import rice this year as the government’s rice reserve stock (CBP) in Bulog’s warehouse is sufficient for sales of supply availability and price stabilisation (KPSH), market operations, disaster emergency response and social assistance.
The Philippines will retain its status as the world’s biggest rice importer in 2020, according to the US Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural service (USDA-FAS).
Vietnamese firms specialised in rice, coffee and spice are taking part in the 2018 Specialty and Fine Food Asia (SFFA 2018), which opened on July 17 in Singapore.
Indonesia will import 500,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam and Thailand to contain rice price hikes and declining supply in the local market, said Indonesian Minister of Trade Enggartiasto Lukita.
The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has signed an agreement with Iran to ship 100,000 tonnes of rice to the country, said Huynh Trung Tru, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade.
The Bangladeshi Embassy in Vietnam has sent a diplomatic note to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam announcing the invitation to both domestic and foreign tenders for its country’s rice import.
Indonesia will purchase 1 million tonnes of rice from Pakistan within the next four years in an attempt to ensure food security against increasingly extreme weather.
The first batch of 50,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam and Thailand will arrive in Dumai port in Riau province, Indonesia, early next year, Antara news agency said on November 16.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has given the green light for rice import from Vietnam and Thailand in a bid to cater for domestic consumption and stabilise prices.
