Thailand to sell 10 million tonnes of stockpiled rice
The Commerce Ministry of Thailand has set a target of selling 10 million tonnes of rice remaining in the country’s warehouses, said the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Chutima Boonyaprapas.
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The rice was stockpiled under former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck government’s rice pledging scheme, she said on June 13.
The rice is divided into three lots: over six million tonnes PPA-grade or good quality rice, about two million tonnes of grade C rice which are not suitable for human consumption, and about two million tonnes of rotten rice for industrial use such as ethanol production, according to Chutima.
Earlier in May, Thailand sold about 1.4 million tonnes of its stockpiled rice stockpiles.
Chutima said that her ministry plans to sell the rice through all distribution channels, including open auctions, government-to-government deals, direct sales to domestic and overseas customers and even donations.
This will help ease the Thai Government’s burden in management and storage, she said, adding that the government will calculate the loss from the former government’s rice pledging scheme after all the rice is sold.
