Thailand has been in talks with many countries to sell rice in its stockpile, and the deal might be concluded within this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce

According to the Commerce minister, Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisarn, Thailand has been in talks with the government of the Philippines and Indonesia, both of which will likely be concluded by the end of this year.

Although the Thai government has as much as16 million tons of rice sitting in warehouses nationwide, only a small amount of rice need to be sold, Niwatthamrong said.

Half of the stockpiled rice, or eight million tons, has been committed to other governments, while another five million tons are from the latest rice buying scheme, which requires farmers to send only rice to the government; rice bran and broken milled rice are excluded. Therefore, the real amount is much more lower than the registered figure.

Meanwhile, foreign trade department's director-general Surasak Riangkreau said there was a high possibility that Thailand would sell rice to Indonesia because the country was in demand of as much as 600,000 tons of rice. Thailand is also in talks to sell 250,000 tons of rice to Iran.

Source: National News Bureau & Public Relations