The Commerce Ministry is committed to revving up the sales of rice stocks, stimulating exports as much as possible and accelerating free trade talks with potential partners in the next six months.

In his round-up of the ministry's six-month performance yesterday, Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikulya said the ministry remained adamant it would dispose of 10 million tonnes of rice this year out of 18 million sitting in state stockpiles.

"In the ministry's six months in tenure, it has sold 3 million tonnes of state rice for more than 36 billion baht," he said.

Of the 3 million tonnes, 2 million were sold through general auction and 1 million through government-to-government (G-to-G) contracts.

Gen Chatchai said his ministry was obliged to deliver a combined 2.6 million tonnes of state rice to China via G-to-G deals through next year.

Of the 10 million tonnes it hopes to sell this year, 6 million would be high-quality grains, with degraded rice comprising 4 million.

The ministry plans to focus on exports the next six months, as the public is blaming it for weak performance, with Gen Chatchai calling the ministry a "social defendant".

Late last month, the ministry reported exports fell for a second consecutive month in February, down by 6.14% year-on-year to US$17.2 billion after January's figures fell by 3.46% to $17.2 billion. The dip was attributed mainly to lower global oil and crop prices.

Shipments of farm products fell by 12.5% year-on-year in February to $2.49 billion, particularly rubber, which declined 38.8%.

Other major products including rice, sugar and canned and processed seafood also saw big declines in exports in February. Exports of industrial products including gold and oil fell by 3.7% to $13.8 billion. Gold exports plunged 66% as traders delayed shipments and shifted focus to imports, while oil shipments dipped 6.1% from February 2014.

However, imports edged up 1.47% to $16.8 billion, leading to a trade surplus of $390 million compared with a deficit of $457 million in January. For the first two months, exports totalled $34.5 billion, down by 4.82% year-on-year, with imports down 6.69% to $34.5 billion.

Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula last week said first-quarter exports were estimated to contract by 4% due mainly to the bearish performance of major markets such as China, the EU and Japan.

Source: Bangkok Post