By Othel V. Campos

A rice shipment from Vietnam will arrive next month to the Philippines, part of the 500,000 metric tons contracted by Manila , an official of the National Food Authority said yesterday.

?I heard they are already looking for a vessel. Although we are not informed how much will be arriving and when exactly the shipment will arrive. Our agency in Vietnam is scouting for a vessel,? said the official.

He said the 500,000-ton shipment would arrive in several cargoes between February and March.

?From what I heard ,the Philippine government entered into a government-to-government contract with Vietnam for a total contracted volume of 1.5 million metric tons,? he said.

The Agriculture Department declined to comment on the contract it has signed with the government of Vietnam this month.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said the department would not disclose the volume of rice imports this year to avoid market speculations that might affect the price.

Yap said the Philippines would import less stocks this year due to a bigger carryover from last year?s harvest.

Earlier, he said ?all rice commitments have substantially been committed by suppliers already.?

He added that supplier had asked the Philippines to refrain from issuing statements.

?Figures are to be left confidential unless they [suppliers] themselves make those public,? Yap said.

The government last year imported a record-high 2.3 million MT rice against an ouput of 16.82 million MT.