Mingkwan tries to talk up price of paddy rice with millers

The minister also expected rice millers to purchase paddy rice from farmers at a higher price while suggesting that the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives is ready to provide loans to millers if there is a liquidity problem.

Trying to talk up the paddy-rice price, Mingkwan said millers should increase the second-crop price to Bt7,000 per tonne, up from Bt6,500, even though moisture is higher in the first crop.

"Rice millers shouldn't depress the paddy price as the government has new orders in hand, so prices are unlikely to fall," he said, adding that the government could intervene by buying directly from farmers if prices are too low.

At present, a tonne of paddy jasmine rice is Bt19,000 to Bt20,000, while regular paddy and sticky rice crops are Bt12,000 to Bt14,000 and Bt8,200 to Bt8,500, respectively, based on a 15-per-cent moisture level.

Jasmine rice for export is quoted at Bt39,700 per tonne while regular rice is Bt29,000 to Bt32,000 per tonne. In the first four months of this year, Thailand exported 4 million tonnes, with overall exports likely to top 9 million tonnes.