Thai Govt Sells 281,272 Tons Of Rice From Stocks In Tender
Jun 08,2007 00:00
by
dailynews
Thailand's Commerce Ministry sold 281,272 metric tons ofrice from its reserves to 14 companies in a tender, the ministry said in a
statement Thursday.
The ministry had offered three rice grades totaling about 400,000 tons at an
auction on May 24, but only sold 81,272 tons of jasmine fragrant rice to 10
companies at THB10,500-THB14,850/ton, and 200,000 tons of 5% broken white rice
to four companies at $289.55-$311.38/ton, as some bids were below the
ministry's expectations.
The rice on offer was accumulated under its 2004-05 and 2005-06 price
intervention programs, and comprised 93,000 tons of jasmine fragrant rice from
the 2004-05 crop year, 200,000 tons of 5% broken white rice from the 2005-06
crop year, and around 100,000 tons of white rice 100% from both crop years.
For jasmine fragrant rice, which was bid in baht terms, ex-warehouse Bangkok,
11 bidders offered prices ranging from THB10,000-THB14,850/ton.
The ministry negotiated for higher prices and sold almost 90% of the jasmine
fragrant rice on offer to bidders who agreed to raise their bids, the statement
said.
The ministry sold the entire quantity of 5% broken white rice it offered. It
was bid in U.S. dollar terms on a free-on-board Bangkok basis, and six bidders
offered prices ranging from $285.19- $292.46/ton.
The ministry didn't sell any white rice 100%, as bids, which were in U.S
dollars on a free-on-board Bangkok basis, were below market prices, the
ministry said.
The ministry will issue a new tender to sell the unsold rice and an
additional 200,000-300,000 tons of jasmine fragrant and white rice, but a date
hasn't been set, an official at the ministry said.
The government periodically sells rice from its stocks to clear inventory and
reduce storage costs of around THB2.8 billion a month, the ministry said.