BANGKOK, 5 August 2014 – The Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) is poised to sell another 200,000 tons of rice to China as part of the government-to-government (G2G) contract while expecting all the stockpiled rice to be released in three years.
After a meeting with China’s state-owned food conglomerate COFCO, Director-General of the DFT Duangporn Rodphaya disclosed that the company affirmed to proceed with its purchase of Thai rice under the G2G agreement inked earlier. Out of the total of 1 million tons specified in the contract, 100,000 tons of broken-milled rice is due to be delivered to the client within this month while another batch of 100,000 tons of 5 percent white rice is to be sent out in September.
Moreover, representatives of COFCO will be coming to Thailand in September to negotiate additional purchases of Thai rice. The DFT hopes to fetch good prices for the grains as the market prices are currently on the rise due to high global demands.
Besides the G2G deal with China, Ms Duangporn noted that rice auctions are being held in other countries, such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, by private entrepreneurs who are receiving support from the public sector. She voiced belief that the current rice stock of 18 million tons will be completely released to the market within the next three years.
