The government is scheduled to put another 200,000 tonnes of its rice stocks on auction this week, mainly white and broken rice.
A source from the working panel that handles the government's rice stock sales said yesterday's meeting, chaired by the Foreign Trade Department's director-general, agreed to auction off 200,000 tonnes of rice, of which 80,000 tonnes is 5% white rice and 120,00 tonnes is broken rice.
The terms of reference for the new auction will be unveiled this week and interested bidders will be allowed to submit their purchase interest on Oct 22.
Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of the department, said the new rice auction should be speeded up and held before the end of this month, as the new harvest from the main crop will hit the market by mid-November.
The Commerce Ministry sold 140,000 tonnes of rice in the first two auctions, raising 1.6 billion baht.
After halting rice sales to carry out nationwide inspections, the military regime resumed sales of 167,000 tonnes on Aug 7 from stockpiles the Yingluck Shinawatra government collected under its failed rice pledging scheme.
In July the junta vowed to sell an average of 500,000 tonnes a month from state stocks, disposing of the existing 18-million-tonne surplus over three years through four channels: general auctions, government-to-government sales, direct sales and the Agricultural Futures Exchange of Thailand.
Manat Kitprasert, president of the Thai Rice Millers Association, said a massive main crop was anticipated, piling pressure on domestic rice prices.
The Agriculture Ministry forecasts Thailand's rice supply for 2015-16 at 37 million tonnes of paddy, with 27 million from the main crop and 10 million from the second crop.
This translates to white rice of 25-26 million tonnes, beating the 21 million tonnes of white rice projected by the US Agriculture Department from 32 million tonnes of paddy.
The government holds an estimated 15-16 million tonnes in stock, a large dip from the previous regime.
Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, urged the government to continue auctioning off its rice stocks in limited amounts to mute any impact on prices for the coming harvest.
Thailand could lose out to India and Pakistan if the government halts or delays the sale of rice from the coming harvest to prop up prices, as demand is skyrocketing in East African countries that want to buy old rice at cheap prices, he said.