May 17, 2008 - The Philippines, one of the world's largest rice importers, said Friday prices are softening after Japan offered to sell rice to Manila amid news of bumper world harvests for 2008.

Large tenders by the Philippines to fill its expected 2008 production gap of up to 2.7 million tons have helped drive up prices by 76 percent between December 2007 and April 2008, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

However, the government's grain procurement arm, the National Food Authority (NFA), has seen prices in the international market ease, NFA spokesman Tom Escarez told AFP.

"Prices spike every time we have a large tender. The market became quiet after the tender for 675,000 tons failed and the market realized we were not in a hurry," he added.

A letter from Tokyo informing Manila that between 40,000 and 60,000 tons of Japanese rice is available also apparently helped calm the market, Escarez said.

The official said the two governments are currently negotiating the manner by which the supply will be procured, which he said would most probably be in the form of a soft loan or a negotiated supply contract.

The Philippines also expects some supplies to be offered from Pakistan when the NFA holds its next tender for about 200,000 tons early next month, he said.

Press reports this week have said Pakistan, the world's fifth largest rice exporter, was expected to allow exports of up to a million tons since local requirements have been met.

"The market price for rice has softened by about three percent," Escarez said.

Some reports have said that the market price over the past week has fallen by around 14 percent.

Escarez said Manila is hoping the trend would continue until August and September, when Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, harvests it current crop.

FAO said in a statement released Monday that rice production in Asia, Africa and Latin America should reach a new record level of 666 million tons in 2008, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

However, it forecast that prices could remain high over the short term, citing the destruction of Myanmar's rice producing areas by Cyclone Nargis.

In an attempt to avoid food scarcities in their own countries, major rice exporters have recently imposed export bans, taxes or minimum ceilings, while large importers like the Philippines have reacted with massive auctions.

"These measures further restricted the availability of rice supplies on international markets, triggering yet more price rises and tighter supply conditions. At the moment, only Thailand, Pakistan and the United States, among leading exporters, are exporting rice without any constraints," the FAO statement said.