rice bidding to start

To help clear out the government's rice inventory for the upcoming harvest, the Commerce Ministry will soon ask the new prime minister to transfer national rice management back to his ministry.

"The ministry will open rice bidding of 2.1 million tonnes for export under government-to-government contracts to private exporters as a priority task in order to ensure enough warehouse space for the upcoming season," Commerce Minister Chaiya Sasomsap said yesterday.

The rice-operating authority of ousted premier Samak Sundaravej has expired, leaving all activities involving rice management suspended.

The Commerce Ministry should oversee policy to allow for more flexible operations, he said.

Samak centralised rice management in May after former commerce minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan failed to solve the problem of rising domestic prices.

Samak's rice management team was divided into four committees in charge of releasing stocks, devising price intervention, ordering  polishing and inspecting stocks.

The government has stockpiled up to 4 million tonnes of rice and the latest pledging programme beginning on October 16 is expected to deliver 8 million tonnes of paddy rice. If the government does not quickly dispose of some of its rice, it will have to turn away mortgaged rice as its warehouses have limited space for only 5 million tonnes of paddy rice.

Chaiya also insisted the government would not lower the pledging price to below Bt14,000 a tonne, as sought by exporters.

"The government will proceed on opening the pledging programme for the main rice crop to ensure that the market price will not drop to hurt farmers," he said.

Exporters have said they will ask the new government to lower the price-intervention level for the upcoming main crop, complaining that the high guaranteed price has destroyed the market mechanism.