Stockpile of old rice sold off at auction

Stockpile of old rice sold off at auction
A contractor scales up baskets of pledged corn that have been kept at a warehouse in Surin for more than ten years early next month. ( Photo: Ministry of Commerce )

V8 Intertrading Co Ltd won the bid price of 15, 000 tonnes of grain left over from the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s rice- promising structure, with the highest sale reaching 19, 070 baht per tonne.

At least 286 million baht should been earned for the state, according to Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who called the result remarkable.

As it was arranged off-season, Mr. Phumtham also assured that the price did not interfere with rice crop sales until the following November cropping season. The bidders believed in the country’s grain storage methods, which maintained good quality even if the corn was kept in the storehouse for a long time, he said.

Six out of seven bidders joined the auction on Monday, with the Public Warehouse Organisation ( PWO ) selling the last stockpile of decade-old rice. 100 % rose rice from the Surin warehouses Kittichai and Poolphol is the wheat that was left over from the contentious rice-pledging scheme that was sold at the auction.

V8 Intertrading had suggested an bid amount for the wheat at the Poolphol inventory at 64 million ringgit and the wheat at the Kittichai inventory at 222 million ringgit. When the numbers are broken down, V8 Intertrading had set a selling price of some 19, 070 ringgit per tonne ( 19.070 per kg ), said the source. V8 Intertrading may include a 30-day deadline to agree to a deal with PWO to finish the order after the results are released on Friday.

The corporation will then be required to raise the standard for corn value. According to Mr. Phumtham, the rice needs to be approved for domestic sale by the Department of Internal Trade ( DIT ) and the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) or by the Department of Foreign Trade ( DFT ) for export.