PH rice shipped to Oman

MANILA, Philippines—SL Agritech Corp. (SLAC) expects to ship out within this month its maiden cargo of 19.3 metric tons of its Doña Maria fancy rice to Oman.

Company chair Henry Lim Bon Liong said in a statement that this augured well for Philippines’ rice export prospects, considering that the Omani capital, Muscat, is an important trading center between Asia and Europe as well as North America.

“We look forward to more exports to Oman, which is a market for halal food, being a Muslim country,” Lim said.

He added that a foothold in such a market means that SLAC’s Doña Maria Jasponica and Miponica milled rice varieties pass strict food safety and quality standards.

SLAC is making the shipment to Oman after the Department of Agriculture initiated an export program that saw shipments going to Dubai in May 2013.

Also, exports to Oman follow a 19.45-MT shipment bound for California that left the Philippines last October. This included Doña Maria rice in two-kilo, five-kilo and 10-kilo bags.

But Lim said his company was not only exporting milled rice but also hybrid seeds. In the fourth quarter of 2013, SLAC shipped out 500 MT of hybrid rice SL-8H seeds to Vietnam from November to December.