Seven firms, including Thai and Vietnamese suppliers, submitted bids Tuesday to sell up to 600,000 tons of rice to the Philippines.

It is the second tender by the world's biggest rice buyer for 2010 supplies after strong typhoons since September destroyed large swathes of rice fields. Yesterday’s tender is the first of three for the same volume scheduled for this month.

Those that submitted bids include Vinafood 2, Vietnam's largest rice exporter, global trading firms Toepfer International and Louis Dreyfus, and Thai suppliers Chaiyaporn and Asia Golden Rice.

The National Food Authority, is seeking 25 percent broken white rice for delivery between February and May. It has set a budget of P15.26 billion, or around $541 a tonne, including cost and freight.

At the last tender for 250,000 tonnes of rice in November, Vinafood 2 secured a contract to supply 150,000 tonnes of rice at $480 a tonne, C&F, while Korean trading firm Daewoo International won a deal for 100,000 tonnes at $468.50 a tonne. (Reuters)