Thai farmers urge commerce minister to explain why rice prices fall
BANGKOK, May 7 (TNA) - The Thai Farmers Association (TFA) has urged Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan to explain why local rice prices have declined sharply.
TFA president Prasit Boonchoei said farmers nationwide are now unhappy towards the way Mr. Mingkwan has handled rice market questions in the past, and now, they say, the more he talks, the more confused the farmers became.
Farmers would be more than happy if they could sell paddy rice at between Bt12,000-13,000 per tonne but prices have fallen since the government announced that it would release rice from its warehouses and sell to the retail public as packaged rice at a sales price about 20 per cent below the market price, Mr. Prasit said.
The market mechanism is now twisted, Mr. Prasit said, as rice exporters and millers have slowed buying paddy from farmers, causing prices to fall, he said.
"When rice prices rose the government released announcements regularly but when prices fell not a single government agency issued any statement," Mr. Prasit said. "The Commerce Ministry shouldn't speak on rice prices or its directions because farmers would eventually suffer."
Mr. Prasit suggested that the government should indicate clearly at what price it would buy rice from farmers to keep its stockpile at the same level of 2.1 million tonnes after it has decided to withdraw rice and sell it to the public in packaged rice form.
He said farmers were still not confident that the government would buy rice from them at the average price of Bt13,000 per tonne.
The government should also find ways to assist farmers who planned to organise a rally after millers have offered to buy paddy from them at prices which are too low, he added. (TNA)-E111
MCOT News : Thai farmers urge commerce minister to explain why rice prices fall
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Rice prices said to be easing as purchasing slows down
By Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation
Published on May 7, 2008
The price of 100-per-cent white paddy rice appears to have eased after hitting a record high of between Bt13,000 and Bt14,500 per tonne, traders reported.
Due to tight storage capacity and other factors, the prices started to fall by Bt1,500 to Bt2,000 last week as rice millers and exporters delayed their purchases.
However, traders dismissed the likelihood of further big falls as world demand remained strong and supply from other rice-exporting countries was restricted.
As a result of the weaker domestic price, the export price had also eased, down by between US$60 (Bt1,900) and $80 per tonne last week.
According to the Rice Exporters Association, the export price of 100-per-cent white rice was now $854 per tonne, down from $894.
Pramoth Vanichanont of the Thai Rice Millers Association said yesterday millers had delayed their purchases because of overwhelming stocks.
He believed the price would not fall below Bt10,000 a tonne, adding Cyclone Nargis had damaged Burma's rice crop so there would be higher demand on the world market.
Burma earlier expected to ship 500,000 tonnes of rice this year, up from the annual 300,000 tonnes.
Prasit Boonchuey, president of the Thai Rice Farmers Association, said farmers were satisfied with the current price, despite the drop from between Bt14,500 and Bt15,000 to between Bt11,000 and Bt13,000 a tonne for paddy white rice.
However, farmers would suffer if the price falls below Bt10,000 a tonne. He pointed out the cost of rice production for farmers had surged significantly this year from Bt5,690 to Bt7,000 a tonne because of the rising costs of fertiliser and pesticides.
To ensure lower prices would not hurt farmers, the association had called on the government to set up a price-guarantee programme to ensure the figure would not fall below Bt10,000 a tonne for paddy rice.
Bangkok's Independent Newspaper
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/05/07/national/national_30072426.php
