Thailand sells 1m tonnes of rice to China

BANGKOK, March 5 (TNA) - The caretaker government has successfully signed a deal to sell one million tonnes of Thai rice to China, based on the government-to-government (G-to-G) basis, and it is negotiating to sell more Thai grains to several other countries. Surasak Riangkrul, Director-General of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of Foreign Trade, told reporters on Wednesday that the deal was inked between his department and COFCO Corporation, a Chinese state enterprise, in Beijing on March 4, 2014, during an official visit to China by his department’s delegation. Surasak said, under the agreement, which helps the Thai government release its large rice stocks, the first delivery amounting about 100,000 tonnes will be shipped to China by the end of this month. Surasak acknowledged that rice shipments of the whole amount will have to be complete within 12 months and Beijing expressed its interest in buying more Thai rice in the future. According to the senior Thai official, negotiations on rice sales on the G-to-G basis are also underway with several other countries and it is hoped that the caretaker government will be also able to clinch deals successfully. In an attempt to release the large amount of Thai rice stored at the government's warehouses, the Department of Foreign Trade will also hold a rice bidding next Monday, amounting about 500,000 tonnes, in which several traders are expected to participate. (TNA)