|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 34.27/31 (Bid/Ask)
|
GOLD |
13,250
-
|
|
RICE
CHATRUDEE THEPARAT and PHUSADEE ARUNMAS
Bowing to falling world rice prices, the government yesterday cut the pledging prices for its paddy buying programme by 2,000 baht to 12,000 baht per tonne for paddy from the main 2008-09 crop.
The support prices for Hom Mali rice paddy were cut to 15,000 baht from the earlier proposal of 16,000 baht per tonne, while pledging prices for glutinous rice, mostly grown in the Northeast and the North, were unchanged at 9,000 baht.
Deputy Premier Olarn Chaipravat said buying would start on Nov 1 and continue until May 31 2009.
According to Dr Olarn, under the latest buying scheme, farmers are also eligible to opt for selling their grains in the form of rice futures. Registered farmers could sell their rice in the market if prices later rose above the pledging price.
However, those who participate in the rice futures scheme need to at least own their warehouses or silos.
The government aims to buy eight million tonnes of paddy from the main 2008-09 crop to be harvested starting in November in an attempt to prop up prices. Of the total, five million tonnes are white rice paddy, 1.5 million tonnes are Hom Mali and 1.5 million tones are glutinous rice.
The government is expected to spend about 100 billion baht in the scheme.
Chookiat Ophaswongse, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, hailed the cuts, saying the pledging price reduction would make Thai rice more competitive with those of rival exporting countries. More importantly, he said the government should not shoulder too much financial burden.
However, he noted the pledging price, which is equivalent to $620 to $630 a tonne for standard grade milled rice, was still high relative to the market price. Five percent white rice from Vietnam currently stands at $475.
The new buying could add to the downward pressure on prices, especially as the government needs to unload around two million tonnes of rice from its stockpile this year in order to make room for the new crop.
"We could not do much [to help raise the prices] until Vietnam sells out its rice from the new crop," said Mr Chookiat.
Prasit Boonchuey, the president of the Thai Farmers Association, said that if the government wanted to cut prices, it should compensate farmers for production costs such as fertiliser and pesticides. It wanted the support price kept at 14,000 baht a tonne.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Next
