Govt plans to clear rice stocks in H1

The remaining 5.2 million tonnes will only be supplied to non-food and feed meal industries including the energy sector, as this rice is of poor quality. It will go on the block next month.
Duangporn Rodphaya, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said the auction for 2.87 million tonnes of consumer-grade rice this month should reduce the pressure on rice prices in the world market.
After the two auctions, the government should be able to clean out its whole stockpile by May.
She said that disposing of the stockpiles would relieve the Kingdom of a huge financial burden, as the government has been spending Bt504 million a month to store the remaining 8 million tonnes of rice.
However, the Commerce Ministry does not expect a high selling price for this round, as the rice has been kept for several years and has deteriorated in quality. 
Moreover, since banks have restricted credit for rice millers, they may face some difficulty taking part in this month’s auction, she said.
About half of the 2.87 million tonnes up for auction of February 16 will be Hom Mali rice, 20 per cent will be white rice, and the rest Pathum Thani rice, sticky rice, and husked rice.
Meanwhile, the Thai rice industry has foreseen a tough year ahead as the supply of rice in both exporting and importing countries is expected to be high, while market demand is lower than last year. 
The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) yesterday projected that the Kingdom would export 9.5 million tonnes worth Bt150 billion this year, lower than last year’s 9.88 million tonnes worth Bt154.43 billion, because of tough competition, low prices, and the baht’s appreciation.
The TREA’s projection took into consideration the ability of the country to export rice under government-to-government deals, which are expected to amount to about 1.5 million tonnes this year, mostly with China. 
TREA president Charoen Laothamatas said Thailand would face tough competition this year as many countries retained a high supply of rice. 
Thailand will remain the world’s second-largest exporter after India, which is expected to export less rice than last year but more than Thailand at 10 million tonnes. 
Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rice exporter, is projected to ship 5.8 million tonnes this year.
The US Department of Agriculture reported that global end-of-year rice stocks would be increased from 116.51 million tonnes in 2016 to 118.71 million tonnes this year, and total rice production would climb from 472.39 million tonnes to 480.02 million tonnes. 
The demand for rice consumption will increase from 470.54 million tonnes to 477.81 million tonnes, while total trade volume would be up slightly from 39.69 million tonnes to 40.78 million tonnes this year.