V8 Intertrading Co Ltd won the auction sale of 15,000 tonnes of rice left over from the Yingluck Shinawatra administration's rice-pledging scheme, with the highest sale reaching 19,070 baht per tonne.
Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the outcome was impressive, with at least 286 million baht expected to be earned for the state.
Mr Phumtham also assured the sale would not disrupt sales of the rice crop from the next cropping season in November, as it was arranged off-season. "The auction price meant the bidders trusted the state's rice storage measures, which ensured good quality even if the rice was kept in the warehouse for a long time," he added.
The sale of the last stockpile of decade-old rice by the Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO) took place on Monday, with six out of seven bidders joining the auction. The rice left over from the controversial rice-pledging scheme sold at the auction is 100% jasmine rice from the Kittichai and Poolphol warehouses in Surin.
V8 Intertrading had proposed an auction price for the rice at the Poolphol warehouse at around 64 million baht and for that at the Kittichai warehouse at 222 million baht. When the figures are broken down, V8 Intertrading had set a bidding price of some 19,070 baht per tonne (19.070 per kg) , said the source. After the results are announced on Friday, V8 Intertrading will have a 30-day deadline to sign a contract with PWO to complete the purchase.
The company will then be required to improve the rice quality to meet various benchmarks. The rice has to be approved by the Department of Internal Trade (DIT) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for domestic sale or the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) for exporting, said Mr Phumtham.