Rice in stock by govt less than 10 million tonnes, says Commerce Ministry

BANGKOK, Sept 1 (TNA) The amount of rice currently stored by the Thai government is less than 10 million tonnes while the Commerce Ministry is speedily selling it because the government will have to start a new round of rice-pledging scheme this October, said a senior official on Sunday. The Foreign Trade Department Deputy Director-General Tikhumporn Natvaratat said that the ministry is now negotiating a rice deal with Malaysia while it has already signed a contract to deliver 250,000 tonnes of rice to Iran in October. Holding optimistic views that the government would be able to meet target in selling rice within the rest of 2013, Mr Tikhumporn said that the government plans to allow foreign state enterprises and firms to buy rice directly from the government. The issue will be discussed during a meeting of the National Rice Policy committee within the next one or two weeks. According to the Foreign Trade Department, Thailand’s rice exports from January to August 26 totaled 4.02 million tonnes with the average price of over 700 US dollars per tonne, a new selling price record. The government earned about 2.83 billion US dollars.(TNA)