Conab holds two electronic auctions to buy up to 96,400 tonnes of Brazilian paddy rice

The Companhia Nacional de Abastecimento (Conab), Brazil's federal supply agency, holds two electronic auctions on Friday, 25 September, to buy up to 96,400 tonnes of paddy rice from the 2025/26 crop, according to Safras & Mercado. The sessions are purchase operations directed at rural producers and cooperatives, not sales from public stocks. The notices were reported from Porto Alegre on 24 September by Agência Safras.

The first auction, under Notice No. 68/2026, opens at 9:00 and covers up to 57,400 tonnes. The auction of Notice No. 69/2026 follows immediately, for up to 39,000 tonnes, and the two tranches add up to the 96,400-tonne ceiling. Both are conducted in open-outcry format through Siscoe, Conab's electronic trading system, which means bids are called live rather than submitted in sealed envelopes. The larger tranche is traded first, so the price level established at 9:00 sets the tone for the second session.

Who can sell into the auctions

Participation is limited to rural producers and cooperatives. Sellers must be registered with the exchange responsible for the operation and in good standing in the Sicaf, Cadin and Sican federal registries, which cover supplier registration and standing on public-sector obligations. That restriction keeps traders and processors from bidding directly, leaving the two lots to be filled by farmers and cooperative structures that hold the physical grain. Compliance has to be in place at the time of the auction, not after the award.

Specification and price ceilings

• Class: long-fine, type 1
• Form: paddy rice, in bulk
• Crop year: 2025/26
• Maximum moisture: 13%
• Maximum prices, excluding ICMS: R$1.5936 to R$1.7482 per kilogram, according to whole-grain yield

On a per-tonne basis those ceilings translate into R$1,593.60 to R$1,748.20. If both auctions were filled at the top of the range, the 96,400 tonnes would be worth roughly R$169 million; at the bottom of the range, about R$154 million. The gap of just over R$154 per tonne between the lowest and highest ceiling is set entirely by milling outturn, so the same physical volume can be worth materially different amounts depending on grain quality.

Delivery and settlement

Deliveries are scheduled to storage units in Rio Grande do Sul and in Imbituba, Santa Catarina, depending on the lot, with 27 November as the deadline on CIF terms. Because the price is quoted delivered, the seller absorbs freight to the designated warehouse. Winning bidders must post a guarantee equal to 5% of the total value of the operation by 4 October. Payment is made within up to ten business days after the product is accepted, subject to verification of quantity, quality and tax documentation. Acceptance is therefore the trigger for the cash flow, not the delivery itself.

What the terms mean for sellers

The CIF requirement is the decisive detail for anyone calculating a netback. The ceiling is a delivered price, so the farm-level equivalent falls by the cost of moving bulk paddy to Rio Grande do Sul storage or to Imbituba, and producers located far from those points capture less than the headline figure suggests. The type 1, long-fine specification and the 13% moisture cap also narrow the eligible volume: wetter or lower-grade paddy stays in the commercial market. Since the ceilings vary with whole-grain yield, milling quality rather than tonnage alone determines what a lot earns. The calendar adds a financing element, with a 5% guarantee due on 4 October against delivery that can run to 27 November, committing grain and working capital for roughly two months.