May 18, 2007

Philippine feed millers reject tenders for 80,000 metric tonnes of corn

Feed millers rejected the bids to import 80,000 metric tonnes on May 17 due to the US$8 increase in the price from the previous bidding of just US$215 per tonne to the offer price of US$223 per tonne.

The National Food Authority has conducted the second bidding.

Eleanor Melendres-Miranda of the Philippine Association of Feed Millers Inc.(PAFMI) said the bidding was declared a failure because the "price is too steep for buyers" and the submitted volume was only for 65,000 tonnes.

Miranda said they would request for bidding sometime in June and would be submitted to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.

The corn buyers are hoping that by June the price of corn would have gone down as the increasing freight costs have pushed up corn prices.

The NFA board had approved the importation of 200,000 metric tonnes of corn to meet the requirement of feedmillers, chicken and hog growers.