Large firms set to win rice auction
The country's two largest rice exporters - President Agri Trading and Chia Meng - look likely to win the biggest lot of jasmine rice in a Commerce Ministry tender after the pair offered to buy whole stocks yesterday.
However, the ministry said it would wait for higher offers from all bidders before making a final decision. President Agri Trading offered to purchase 305,522 tonnes at Bt15,930 per tonne for the 2004-05 harvest season. This was the third-highest bid. The company is also the only one that offered to buy the whole bidding lot. The market price of rice for the 2004-05 season is quoted at Bt16,000 to Bt17,000 per tonne. The highest bidder for this crop vintage was Golden Harvest Rice Mills, which offered Bt16,000 per tonne but for only a small volume of 3,257 tonnes. Chia Meng offered Bt17,684 per tonne for 156,619 tonnes of rice from the 2005-06 season. However, the market price is quoted at between Bt18,462 to Bt18,847 a tonne. Chia Meng was the second-highest bidder but also offered to take the whole bidding volume for that year. The highest bidder for this crop was Asia Golden Rice, which offered Bt17,733 per tonne for 2,274 tonnes. Karun Kittisataporn, permanent secretary of the ministry, said the bidding produced a good result for rice from the 2004-05 crop. However, the ministry wanted to bargain with traders in order to get higher offers for the 2005-06 crop. "We will negotiate with all bidders again in order to get the best price," he said. Some 36 firms bid for rice from the 2004-05 season, while 15 traders bid for the new crop. Prapit Manathanya, the managing director of Chia Meng, said the company was confident of obtaining the whole lot, but they would not change their offer. "Our offer price was the best price, which was higher than other bidders by US$15 (Bt576) per tonne, so we cannot increase the price. We have to bear rice quality adjustment costs of $25 to $30 per tonne," she said. Rut Subniran, chairman of the board of Patum Rice Mill and Granery Plc, said the company could increase its offer because it was high-quality rice that they need to meet export orders. The company offered Bt17,421 per tonne the 2005-06 crop. He also called for the government to urgently release the rice in the government stockpile. "If the government holds the stock for to long, it will deteriorate," he said.
Petchanet Pratruangkrai The Nation
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