RP feedmillers interested in Indonesian corn

RP feedmillers interested in Indonesian corn

MANILA (Reuters): Philippine feedmillers, hog and poultry
farmers are interested in buying Indonesian corn if prices are
offered below U.S. or Chinese corn, an industry executive said
yesterday.

"We received informal offers of Indonesian corn a month ago
but we said we are waiting for the government's approval of our
petition to import duty-free 300,000 tons of yellow corn this
year," said the executive of a local feedmill.

"After we get the approval to import duty-free and the
Indonesian price is right, then we will buy," he told Reuters,
speaking anonymously.

The Philippines imposes a tariff of between 35 and 80 percent
on corn imports. It has been buying corn, mostly from the U.S.
and China, to meet a domestic shortage.

On Tuesday, traders in Jakarta said Indonesia has turned into
a corn exporter from an importer as tumbling meat consumption
this year has slashed demand for animal feed and left a surplus
of corn.

Manila grains traders said U.S. corn was quoted yesterday at
around $180 per ton C&F while Chinese corn was offered at $130 to
$140 per ton C&F.

The Philippine executive said local corn importers had asked
President Fidel Ramos if they can import on their own.

Imports made through state-trading firm National Food
Authority (NFA) are usually given a lower tariff.

Rice market

Meanwhile, Philippines agriculture secretary Salvador Escudero
said yesterday, Indonesia's deadly drought and economic crisis is
constricting an already tight international rice market,

"Indonesia is importing 600,000 metric tons every month. That
is a lot of supply being withdrawn from the international
market," Escudero told reporters.

Manila is closely monitoring the situation because of its own
drought problems brought on by the weather phenomenon, El Nio,
which is expected to be followed by heavy flooding when the dry
spell ends, he added.

The official said he had not obtained permission from
President Fidel Ramos to import rice, with the country's
inventory now adequate for 84 days, which he said was between
eight and 10 percent higher than in the same period last year.

Indonesian authorities have said they would import 2.9 million
tons of rice this year.

Thailand, the world's top rice exporter, announced this month
that it will donate 5,000 tons of rice to Indonesia while it was
reported in Tokyo that Jakarta had unofficially asked Japan to
send half a million tons to help alleviate food shortages.