Thai military government approves sale of 247,000 tonnes of rice

FE Team | Published: December 26, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

BANGKOK, Dec 25 (Reuters): Thailand's military government approved the sale of 247,000 tonnes of rice in an open tender on Monday, part of its continued effort to offload rice from huge stockpiles accumulated under the previous regime.
The sale was the fourth by the current government, which ousted its predecessor in a May 22 coup following months of political unrest.
The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the May coup, has been struggling to offload some 17 million tonnes of rice in state stockpiles built up under the previous government's state-buying programme.
The state-buying policy won electoral support in Thailand's agrarian heartland but caused the country losses estimated at $15 billion.
Banjongjit Angsusingh, deputy director-general of the foreign trade department at the Commerce Ministry, which oversees rice stock sales, said the sale attracted bids from some 30 traders, including rice exporters and domestic retailers.
Three kinds of grain, including glutinous and white rice, were offered at the tender, in which 21 private companies bid successfully, Banjongjit said, with stocks coming from 52 state warehouses.
The ministry had offered nearly 400,000 tonnes of state rice stocks for sale. Banjongjit said the ministry was confident it could sell the remaining stocks and that some offers had been below the government's minimum floor price.
"Some bidders bid below the base price but we are confident we can sell the full 390,000 tonnes," Banjongjit told reporters. She said the ministry was pleased with the results of the tender.
The ministry did not reveal the sale price.
The price of common grade Thai 5-per cent broken rice was quoted at $413 to $415 per tonne on Monday. The similar Vietnamese grade was at $390 to $395 per tonne.
On Friday, China signed a memorandum of understanding to buy two million tonnes of rice from Thailand on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bangkok.
This deal could ease pressure on the government to offload the stockpiles.
Prayuth told reporters last week Thailand would reclaim its former position as the world's number on rice exporter in 2015 and the stockpile, only a tenth of which is of standard quality, would be sold within the next three years.
The latest state audit found that around 70 per cent of the rice held in stockpiles is deteriorating.
Banjongjit said a remaining 150,000 tonnes of rice not sold at Monday's tender would be offered in a new tender but did not disclose a new bidding date.