The Ministry of Commerce is gearing up for the third auction of rice from the government’s stock later this month while seeking ways to deal with another 14 million tons of substandard grains that remain unsold.
Department of Foreign Trade Director-General Duangporn Rodphaya indicated that the third round of rice bidding for 2015 is being planned as instructed by the rice management committee. The new lot is comprised of over 1 million tons of 12 different strains, coming from 101 silos at the Government Warehouse Organization and 52 silos at the Marketing Organization for Farmers. It is intended to compensate for the off-season supply which is on the decline.
For the bidding process, the director-general said rules and conditions will remain the same as in previous rounds and the floor value will be specified for bidders to use as reference when making their decision. The grains will be available for preview and quality inspection ending today, June 12. Interested bidders will be able to submit applications on June 15 before qualified candidates are announced and bids are accepted the following day.
Duangporn also revealed that there are currently another 16 million tons of rice left in stock. Of that amount, about 2.6 million tons are of good quality and will be gradually auctioned off, whereas the other portion of almost 14 million tons is considered substandard and not consumable. Discussions are being held with related ministries and agencies on alternative means of handling the latter batch, including supplying it to the industrial sector.
