The Thai Rice Exporters Association has confirmed China’s withdrawal from the government’s rice agreement, claiming it will not affect the private sector’s exports.

As the government struggles to secure funds to pay farmers participating in the pledging program, China announced it had pulled out of a deal to buy 1.2 million tonnes of Thai rice.

The association noted however that the deal last year had still not been officially finalized, and won't have an impact on overall rice exports to China which totaled 300,000 tons last year.

The association nonetheless urged the government to exercise more transparency regarding rice auctions and to release the rice stock at 11 baht per kilogram, which is closer to the prevailing Vietnamese rate.

The exporter body also made known that the rice-pledging scheme had generated massive revenue losses and advised the government to scrap the scheme as soon as possible.

The association forecast that Thailand will export 7.5 million tons of rice this year, worth 4.5 billion US dollar or 140 billion baht.

Source: National News Bureau & Public Relations