Unmilled rice stocks held by the Thai government have jumped to 15 million tonnes, the highest ever, Commerce Ministry data showed on Monday, and a ministry official said it would start releasing grain soon by selling in domestic and foreign markets.

A senior Commerce Ministry official said the grain in stock was equivalent to around 9 million tonnes of milled rice. In recent years, Thailand has exported between 8 million and 10 million tonnes a year.

The stocks are likely to rise further as the government's buying scheme, aimed at supporting millions of poor farmers, continues until the end of June.

Another official, Manat Soiploy, who oversees rice trade at the Ministry of Commerce, told Reuters: "We are in talks with Thai exporters to sell around 300,000-500,000 tonnes of rice from government stocks, but the deals are not concluded yet."

Besides selling rice to exporters, Manat said some could be sold overseas through government-to-government deals.

"There are five foreign governments that are in talks with us," Manat said.

He declined to give further details, but another ministry official said Thailand was negotiating with Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Source: Reuters