Thai government opens bidding for rice

BANGKOK, May 17 (TNA) - A total of 51 rice traders have submitted proposals to inspect the quality of 1.2 million tonnes of grains to be auctioned by the Thai Ministry of Commerce from government stockpiles later this week. The government is trying to offload rice from warehouses nationwide rented by the government, following the end of a rice-pledging scheme implemented by the previous government. Duangporn Rodphaya, Director-General of the Commerce Ministry’s Department of Foreign Trade, told journalists on Tuesday that the bidding for the 1.2 million tonnes of rice, the third time this year, comes at a time when there is a market demand for a large quantity of broken-milled rice in substitution for animal feed. Besides, this year's off-season rice growing has to be delayed due to an ongoing drought in Thailand. According to the senior official, the rice is now stored at 121 warehouses in 30 Thai provinces. Duangporn said the names of qualified bidders will be announced on May 19 and bidding will be held later in the same day. (TNA)