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Govt banks on 10m tonnes of G2G rice sales


Thailand has sold more than 10 million tonnes of rice under government-to-government contracts to many countries, ensuring that the Commerce Ministry should be able to pay back Bt220 billion in state support for its pledging programme before the end of the year, it says.

Pranee Siriphand, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the G2G contracts were for rice sales into next year.

"The ministry is negotiating with many nations interested in buying rice under G2G contracts, and will also sell rice to some foreign private importers and state-owned agencies directly to clear out more stockpiles."

Previously, the Commerce Ministry announced that it could sell about 7.32 million tonnes of rice under G2G contracts with seven countries. Such contracts have been signed since August 2012.

Pranee said that after the government had sent trade missions to many countries and negotiated with trade partners, this year the combined G2G contracts had exceeded 10 million tonnes. Most are for white rice. The average prices are quite satisfactory, ensuring that the government will have adequate returns for continuing the pledging project, she said.

The department is planning to finalise rice-sale negotiations with many countries in Asean, mainly Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as with China and countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Pranee said that although Malaysia itself was not a large rice consumer, it was considered important for exporting rice to third countries.

The department is also waiting for Indonesia's Bureau of Logistics to start negotiations on purchase of Thai rice this year.

Moreover, the department will continue to negotiate with China to encourage that country to buy more rice from Thailand. Although it is expected to import about 3 million tonnes this year, it still has capacity to order more, as many African countries rely on China for support.

Despite high concern over the Thai government's huge stockpiles of rice, the Foreign Trade Department reports that it is currently holding only 10 million tonnes. The rest in the stocks has already been sold but is waiting for shipping.

Pranee said the government should be able to clear up space to take in more rice from the new harvest season, beginning next month.

About 15 million tonnes of paddy is expected to enter the pledging scheme from the main harvest season, which runs from October to February.

Source : The Nation



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