BANGKOK, 16 July 2014- The Commerce Ministry has come up with measures to ensure that the price of rice in 2014-2015 will not fall below 8,500 baht per ton.
According to Ms. Jintana Chaiyawannakan, the Acting Director-General of the Department of Internal Trade, the policy is in line with that of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which indicates that the price of rice should not fall below 8,500 baht per ton.
Ms. Jintana said the measures involved having rice mills buy rice at 100-200 baht per ton higher than the market price when the price usually drops during the months of November to January. The rice mills will then stockpile the grain for 3-6 months waiting for the right time to release it back to the market.
She said rice mills joining this scheme would be entitled to compensation of 3% interest based on the amount paid for the rice. The compensation would be made through the financial institutions the rice mills are currently doing business with.
The Acting Director General believes the measures will maintain the price of rice at an level.
Ms. Jintana also said the government would no longer buy rice directly from farmers, as it was not capable of maintaining the quality of the huge amount of rice in stocks; as evidenced by what had happened in the past.
