Thailand's government will open a tender to sell about 1 million tonnes of rice on January 29, the country's commerce ministry said on Tuesday, as it pushes to sell off huge stockpiles. Thailand has some 17 million tonnes of rice in stockpiles it built up under a generous subsidy scheme run by the government of Yingluck Shinawatra. Shinawatra was ousted last May, then the army led a coup to topple the remnants of her government.
The tender calls for bidding to begin on January 29 for 850,000 tonnes of 5 percent broken rice and 150,000 tonnes of jasmine rice. The military ended the subsidy scheme and expects to sell off the stockpiles over the next two years. Only 10 percent of the stored rice remains of standard export quality.
Thailand regained its mantle as the world's top rice exporter in 2014 with shipments of 10.8 million tonnes, Commerce Minister Chatchai Sarikalya said on Monday. That was up 64 percent on the previous year's exports. Exports fell when the subsidy scheme was in operation, as the government paid farmers far more for their rice than it could sell the grain for on international markets, leading to the build up in storage.
Thailand's parliament will conclude an impeachment hearing against former Prime Minister Shinawatra earlier this week for failure to exercise sufficient supervision of the rice subsidy scheme. An impeachment could lead to her being banned from politics for five years. Abundant rice supplies, including shipments from Thailand's storage, have pushed international prices lower. Vietnam's rice prices are their lowest for at least 10 months.