One million tonnes of rice on auction

One million tonnes of rice on auction

The Commerce Ministry is auctioning off a total of one million tonnes of rice to domestic buyers on the condition that winning bidders must take all the grain in whatever warehouse stockpile they buy.

An official takes a sample from a sack of rice  to check on its quality. (Bangkok Post file photo)

The first auction for 2015 is scheduled on Jan 29, with the ministry to offer 850,000 tonnes of 5% white rice and 150,000 tonns of fragrant rice stored in warehouses of the Public Warehouse Organisation and the Marketing Organisation for Farmers.

The ministry is arranging the sale through the Foreign Trade Department, which handles  domestic and foreign sales of the government stockpile.

The auction terms were explained to a large group of potential bidders on Thursday. 

Bangjoingitt Angsusinght, the department’s deputy director-general, said interested people can check the quality of rice offered for the auction at the listed warehouses.

The department will announce a minimum bidding price and if all offers are lower than that price, the auction for that particular warehouse will be cancelled.  

Under the plan, the ministry expects to dispose of 17 million tonnes of rice left in its stockpile, accumulated from the implementation of rice pledging scheme, within two years, with a major portion of about 10 million tonnes to be sold this year.

However, some potential participants in the auction said they were worried about the quality of the rice as each warehouse kept grain from different sources, so it might not meet their required standard. 

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