COMMODITIES

PHUSADEE ARUNMAS

Thailand has missed an opportunity to sell more rice to the Philippines, the world's biggest importer, after Manila said yesterday that it would buy 600,000 tonnes from Vietnam to bolster stocks.

''It's unfortunate for (Thailand's) export opportunity that we couldn't sell more rice through government-to-government contracts,'' said Chookiat Ophaswongse, the president of the Rice Exporters Association.

Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said in a statement that his country now had ''adequate rice supplies''.

The purchase, at $940 a tonne, may help the Philippines exceed this year's planned import volume of 2.1 million tonnes, equivalent to about 10% of annual consumption, Mr Yap said.

The Philippines began a worldwide search for rice supplies after four earlier tenders called by the government could not be filled, sparking concerns about a shortage as prices rose to record levels.

Last year, Thailand shipped 425,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines, but this year as of May the kingdom had sold only 332,000 tonnes to Manila.

A source from the Commerce Ministry said minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan had tabled for cabinet approval last week Thailand's proposal to bid for the rice tender in the Philippines through a government-to-government deal. But the proposal was dropped at the June 10 meeting, meaning Thailand failed to place a bid by the June 13 deadline.

Thailand missed an important opportunity to sell several thousand tonnes of rice to the Philippines, which would help boost domestic rice prices, said the source.

According to Mr Chookiat, new purchase orders structured as government-to-government deals with other importing countries such as Indonesia, Iran and Malaysia have also yet to be tendered.

''Rice stockpiles of Thai exporters amount to 1.5 million to 1.8 million tonnes, a rise from one million tonnes, while stocks of the millers are expected to top five million tonnes. Right now, everybody is trying to drain their stocks,'' he said.

''The government's rice-pledging scheme, which guarantees the price of paddy at 14,000 baht per tonne, is likely to play the rice situation against the market mechanism.''

The price of 5% white rice was quoted yesterday at $850 a tonne compared with $860 last week, and well off the record near $1,080 set in April..

Thailand exported five million tonnes of rice for the first five months and is expected to export at least nine million tonnes this year.

''Whether rice shipments could reach 10 million tonnes depends on new purchase orders, possibly from Indonesia and Nigeria, in the last quarter,'' Mr Chookiat said.

By The Nation On 19 June 2008

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