Rice exporters must have 500-tonne stockpiles
Play
THE COMMERCE Ministry will inspect exporters' rice stockpiles soon to ensure they have at least the minimum amount required under a new regulation, while it will also encourage traders and farmers to hold on to rice longer during the upcoming harvest seas
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, ministry inspector-general and spokesman, yesterday said that under a primary plan to stabilise market prices, Commerce needed to ensure that every exporter had some stockpiled rice.
Under the new regulation, exporters are each required to have a minimum of 500 tonnes of rice in their warehouses.
The measure will ensure that exporters have enough stocks and absorb some of the rice supply in the market, he said.
Moreover, the ministry will also encourage millers, traders and farmers to keep more rice in their warehouses, so that farmers do not face high pressure to accelerate sales during the harvest season.
Under the plan, the government will provide soft loans to traders and farmers so that they can build or expand their warehouses.
The plan to inspect exporters’ stockpiles and support the holding of more stock is part of the government’s measures to prevent rice prices falling, to the detriment of farmers.
Boonyarit said Commerce Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya would submit the proposals for the Rice Policy and Management Committee’s approval soon. He pointed out that Chatchai had recently told farmers that the new government would try to ensure that rice prices in the market would not fall below Bt8,500 for a tonne of white paddy.
In addition, so that farmers have better means of voicing their concerns, the ministry has agreed with five farmer-related associations to set up a bi-weekly discussion group between its officials and farmers’ representatives.
