Description
May 16, 2006Amendment Number 1 to United States Agency for International Development solicitation (RFP) TRN-06-043 for Food Aid Warehouse and Cargo Handling Services in / near the Persian Gulf Region and/or the Greater Horn of Africa Region and/or the Southern Africa Region. PURPOSE The purpose of this solicitation amendment is to 1) Expand the area of consideration to include the greater Horn of Africa region and the Southern Africa region; 2) Clarify the government’s interest in learning about an offeror’s bulk grain commodity storage capability, if available; 3) Provide answers to questions posed by parties interested in this proposal; and 4) Extend the date for receipt of proposals to June 15, 2006. AMENDMENTS to USAID solicitation TRN-06-043: 1. Delete any and all solicitation references to the area of consideration stated as (or similar to) the “Persian Gulf Area and the Horn of Africa” and in lieu thereof substituted the “Persian Gulf and/or the Greater Horn of Africa and/or the Southern Africa Regions. 2. A solicitation paragraph reads, “If the cargo is discharged at port in bulk: 1) the contractor will receive cargo....will be for the account of the contractor; or 2) (if available) receive and store bulk commodities, to be bagged or re-delivered as directed at a later time.” Add the following language – “While bulk grain storage is not a solicitation requirement, the ability to receive and store bulk commodities should be noted in your technical proposal. The government will not evaluate proposals on the basis of whether or not bulk grain commodity storage is available.” 3. Delete the date for receipt of proposals stated as, “Monday June 5, 2006” and in lieu thereof substitute the date “Thursday June 15, 2006.” 4. The following questions and answers are hereby provided: The below answers are provided by the government in response to specific questions posed by various potential offerors. QUESTION 1) What warehouse and cargo handling capacities are required in the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa. ANSWER: The government is seeking warehouse space and cargo handling capability, for food aid commodities, covering between a minimum of 10,000 metric tons and a maximum of 30,000 metric tons on the warehouse floor at any point in time. Generally, packaged food aid commodities (25 kg bags, 50 kg bags, boxed cartons of vegetable oil in cans) are delivered to the local port or the warehouse door via ocean containers. Containerized shipments arrive in lots of about 500 to 1000 metric tons per week – about 25 to 50 containers per week. Container vessels drop the containers at the local port container yard, and the warehouse calls forward containers for unstuffing and placing commodities on the warehouse floor. Re-delivery of commodities will require similar cargo handling capability as required during initial delivery. One of the significant RFP proposal evaluation criteria is the potential contractor’s ability to handle receipt and re-delivery orders or operations at the same time. Offerors are asked to provide an indication of the labor and equipment reserve capacity available at the warehouse to handle in-coming and out-going shipments at the same time. QUESTION 2) Is the base proposal for 10,000 mt or 30,000 mt? Resources and warehousing will be completely different for each. ANSWER: The solicitation states a requirement range, and your proposal should offer warehouse and cargo handling services, covering a minimum of 10,000 metric tons and up to a maximum of 30,000 metric tons. Humanitarian food aid requirements fluctuate over time. The government cannot accurately predict the exact tonnage of food aid commodities that may be required during the term of this warehouse contract. History supports the requirement that we pre-positioned stocks between 10,000 and 30,000 metric tons. The government seeks a contractor that is able to offer a range of space and handling capability. QUESTION 3) How many SKU's will be stored. Do we have the cube for each? ANSWER: The solicitation states that packaged whole grains and/or processed corn, wheat and/or soybean products and refined vegetable oils may be stored at the warehouse. Agricultural products may be bagged in 25 kg. or 50 kg. multiwall polypropylene or paper bags. Vegetable oils will be in 5-gallon pails or similar containers. In estimating how much usable space is needed per commodity, the following rules of thumb may help. (These are estimated figures) One MT of a bagged commodity (in 25 kg bags) requires approximately 2 cubic meters of usable storage space. One MT of edible vegetable oil in tins requires approximately 1.4 cubic meters of usable storage space. In using the stacking suggestions noted in the RFP referenced documents, do not stack fiberboard cases of oil tins higher than 8 layers. Do not stack flour and meals higher than 20 layers. Do not stack grits or whole grains higher than 30-40 layers. In addition to packaged commodities, bulk food aid commodity storage and handling may also be proposed as part of your submission, and would be of interest during the technical evaluation if your proposal, although it is not a requirement. QUESTION 4) Will the flow of inbound/outbound be staggered during initial receipt and monthly replenishment -- e.g. will the 10,000 mt come at once and will each 3,000 mt come in/out at once each month. Again, this has major impact on resource requirements. ANSWER: Commodities are generally delivered (received by the warehouse) and re-delivered in a staggered fashion, with between 500 to 1,000 metric tons arriving or departing during a week. This does not apply to bulk commodity shipments. Higher quantities may require additional cargo handling resources. The government is not bound by the above estimate, and may require delivery and re-delivery handling at higher levels. Actual contract performance may require receipt and re-delivery of commodities at the same time. The solicitation asks offerors to indicate their ability to handle receipt and re-delivery of cargo and their throughput and handling capability to un-stuff and stuff containers. The government is interested in an offeror’s capability of handling receipt and re-delivery at the same time. Your proposal should address this issue by indicating your ability to obtain and apply additional resources to cover the possible simultaneous receipt and re-delivery of commodities. QUESTION 5) Will the flow of inbound/outbound be staggered during initial receipt and monthly replenishment -- e.g. will the 10,000 mt come at once, and will each 3,000 mt come in/out at one time each month. ANSWER: See the response to question 4 above. Note: The solicitation includes an evaluation scenario and a request that your proposal provide the government with an estimated cost for the proposed scenario. In responding to the evaluation scenario you may estimate your cost of performance on the basis of all cargoes arriving or departing at one time at the beginning or end of the month. The proposal cost evaluation scenario is not indicative of the planned actual receipt or re-delivery contract performance which may be required by the government. QUESTION 6) What are the delivery region(s) for the food aid? Will all deliveries be to countries within the Horn of Africa? If not, provide the name of the other countries, and the split in cargo volumes between the regions. ANSWER: The potential delivery regions for the food aid will be any area or region of the world. The most likely areas to be covered by this solicitation, and any resulting warehouse and cargo handling service contract, will be the regions of East and South Africa and the Southern Asia Region. We do not know the split in cargo volumes to be delivered between these potential regions. QUESTION 7) Will the contractor be required to deliver to the port of discharge and/or consignee, or only to the port of embarkation? ANSWER: For re-delivery of commodities, the warehouse contractor will generally stuff ocean containers or load trucks at their warehouse door. In addition, the warehouse contractor may be required to deliver break bulk commodities to a f.a.s. vessel position at the discharge port. QUESTION 8) Will refrigerated cargo be shipped? If so, provide the estimated number of containers and metric tons and provide the percentage split between freeze and chill cargo. ANSWER: The government does not anticipate a requirement for refrigerated cargo. QUESTION 9) Will the government reimburse the contractor for the cost of fumigation, or must it be built into the rates? ANSWER: The government will reimburse the contractor for fumigation at cost. QUESTION 10) Will past performance / audit or any performance data on past contracts similar to this be made available to the public? ANSWER: The government does not plan to release information about past performance, audit or performance data for similar contracts. The government considers the services solicited by this RFP to be commercial services. Except as hereby amended, all other terms and conditions of solicitation TRN-06-043 remain unchanged.