Commerce Ministry notes six-month achievements
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IN THE FIRST six months of the 2015 fiscal year, the Commerce Ministry helped sell about 3 million tonnes of rice, through auctions and deals with other governments, worth Bt36 billion, Commerce Ministry Chatchai Sarikalya told a news conference Monday.
It also promoted export-oriented products such as rice, rice products, food supplements and beverages at trade exhibitions here and overseas, he said.
Last year, Thailand’s rice exports exceeded 10 million tonnes.
In the past six months, rice auctions were held six times and four government-to-government contracts for new-season rice sales have been made for a total of 3 million tonnes. Of that total, 400,000 tonnes were sold to China, 500,000 tonnes to the Philippines and 150,000 tonnes to Indonesia. Deals on sales of around another 2.6 million tonnes are under negotiation, he said.
In the six-month period, the value of Thai exports reached US$92 billion (nearly Bt3 trillion), down 0.88 per cent year on year because of the slow global economic recovery, sharp currency depreciations among Thailand’s trade rivals compared with the baht, and sharp drops in the prices of oil and crops.
