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Thai 5 percent broken grade white rice was quoted at US$380 (RM1228) per tonne in the international market today. Comparable grade rice from Vietnam was quoted at US$400 a tonne.
However, traders and exporters said Thailand will have to offer prices that are way below market to entice the buyer.
“It might be US$20-US$30 per tonne below market prices as Thai rice is deteriorating as it was kept in stocks for years,” said a Bangkok-based trader.
Thailand’s rice scheme, which has led to billions in losses and fuelled a political crisis in the country, came to an abrupt end on Feb 28 as former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s caretaker government had no authority to extend the subsidy.
Thailand’s anti-graft agency indicted Yingluck for negligence last week, a ruling that came a day after a court threw her out of office.
The rice subsidy scheme, the focus of the anti-corruption commission case, was a flagship policy of Yingluck’s administration, aimed at helping her rural supporters, under which the state paid farmers well above market prices for their crops.
As of April, about 94 billion Thai baht (RM9 billion) was still owned under the scheme to around 742,000 farmers.
aimed at helping her rural supporters