MANILA - The Philippines' unmilled rice production is forecast to fall 11.3% from a year earlier to 5.52 million tons in the fourth quarter due to recent strong typhoons, government data showed on Tuesday.

This brings paddy rice output for all of 2009 to around 16.42 million tons, 2.4% lower than the 16.82 million tons produced in 2008, the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said in a report e-mailed to Reuters.

Unmilled rice output is projected to rise 2.8% in the first quarter of 2010 as farmers replant areas damaged by the typhoons, the agency said in its quarterly report.

The world's biggest rice buyer, the Philippines is holding two tenders next month to import 1.2 million tons of rice to boost supplies after storms hit key rice-growing areas on the main Luzon island.