The Philippines scrapped its largest rice tender of the year on Monday and said it preferred to hold back importing until prices fall, sending a signal to world grain markets that rice prices might have peaked. Manila's willingness to wait could give some breathing space to importers scrambling for cargoes in recent weeks. Prices have trebled this year with world stocks at their lowest since the early 1980s and demand strong. Leaders attending the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Madrid said on Sunday the region was at risk of undoing a decade of gains because of soaring food prices that could also spark social unrest. “We feel that we are not pressured to buy now,” said Ludovico Jarina, deputy administrator of Manila's National Food Authority, (NFA), the state's grain importing arm. The Philippines, the world's top rice importer, said prices were on a downward trend and, after canceling a tender for 675,000 tons of the grain, said it could wait until later this year, possibly the third quarter, to return to the market. The NFA has insisted it has enough supply for a lean period in the third quarter, but dealers doubted Manila would be able to defer imports for long. “They keep saying they have enough rice for the third quarter but today's tender was meant to be for delivery for May and June,” said one dealer, who declined to be identified. Thai 100-percent B grade white rice, the world's benchmark, is currently trading around $990 a ton, down from a peak of $1,000 a ton late last month. US rice futures fell on Monday after hitting record highs late last month. At the ADB meeting in Madrid, finance ministers spoke of dire consequences, including riots, if the food price spiral continued and the Manila-based bank pledged financial aid to help tackle the problem.
