Thailand will urge Bangladesh to order at least 300,000 tonnes of Thai rice soon as the government wants to dispose of some of its huge stocks of the grain, shore up local rice prices and prolong the rice-pledging scheme through the main crop.

Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom will lead a Thai trade mission to Bangladesh in the middle of this month to finalise the contract.

The price is expected to be US$600 (Bt18,600) per tonne, which is lower than the market price of more than $615 per tonne for parboiled rice. The move is part of the government's strategy to promote rice exports under government-to-government deals.

Thai rice exporters are concerned that total shipments will drop to the lowest level in a decade at only 6.5 million tonnes due to the highly subsidised price of Thai rice.

The government plans to drive up rice prices in the market under its pledging project, which is expected to be renewed next year.

The government holds about 8 million tonnes of rice in inventory, of which 5 million tonnes are from the current pledging project for the second harvest. The second season started in March and will end next month.

The next main season begins in November. The government has to consider extending its rice-pledging policy at a high price.

A Foreign Trade Department source said Thailand would not likely lose its crown this year as the world's largest rice exporter.

Thailand should sell at least 9 million tonnes of rice overseas this year, of which 6.5 million tonnes will come from private exporters and the rest from the government's warehouses.

Bangladesh has already committed to taking 1 million tonnes of rice from Thailand this year.

Source : The Nation