Thai Commerce Minister affirms China will buy 1.2 mln tonnes of Thai rice

[webfact]

Commerce Minister affirms China will buy 1.2 mln tonnes of Thai rice
By English News



MOSCOW, Sept 16 - Thailand's deputy prime minister in his dual capacity as commerce minister affirmed that China is to buy 1.2 million tonnes of Thai rice.

Now in Moscow, Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan spoke of the matter after presiding over the opening ceremony of "Thailand Week in Russia 2013".

His statement followed a comment by Democrat Party-list MP Korn Chatikavanij's on his Facebook page asking again who lied regarding China's agreement to buy Thai rice in such a quantity.

Mr Korn said Reuters news agency reported the Chinese authorities had denied the claim.

However, according to Mr Niwatthamrong, the negotiation in China's Heilongjiang province attracted the interests of China's Beidahuang Group to buy 1.2 million tonnes of Thai rice and 200,000 tonnes of rubber.

The minister said the agreement is being negotiated and is expected to be signed within two weeks. The conclusion is not yet made whether the contract will be signed in China or Thailand. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-09-16

[soi41]

And the price??

A qualified guess would be about half of the pledging price, not to forget grease for the wheels!

[clockman]

Keep it in the family, Thailand is a chinese colony.

[EyesWideOpen]

Only a actual transaction if the price is known.

[Gulfsailor]

From the Beidahuang Group website;

"Beidahuang is a black land which is full of wonder and mystery." And "It has been now an important national commodity grain base, And the biggest base of contamination-free, green, organic food"

So disregarding the first bit, what does this group want with 1.2 million tons of Thai rice? Itself produces 10 million tonnes of grain products. Unless they rebrand the Thai rice as 'contamination-free, green, organic' and sell it with a mark up accordingly?

Edit to add; would explain why China government is not aware of any deal...

Edited September 16, 2013 by Gulfsailor

[tomyummer]

Will the 1.2 million tons come from the official account? Or the missing millions of stock?

[dcutman]

An interesting article here on this subject. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324798904578529233390424070.html

and another interesting article if you are into doomsday theories. http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/they-are-getting-ready-no-obvious-reason-for-why-chinese-rice-stockpiles-jumped-400-massive-boosts-in-dry-milk-iron-ore-precious-metals-imports_01092013

Neither of witch supports this claim that China is going to buy rice from Thailand. Thailands rice is just to expensive.

[jbrain]

Thailand's deputy prime minister in his dual capacity as commerce minister affirmed that China is to buy 1.2 million tonnes of Thai rice.

The minister said the agreement is being negotiated and is expected to be signed within two weeks.

As far as I can understand that are two different things.

[hellodolly]

Thailand's deputy prime minister in his dual capacity as commerce minister affirmed that China is to buy 1.2 million tonnes of Thai rice.

The minister said the agreement is being negotiated and is expected to be signed within two weeks.

As far as I can understand that are two different things.

Mere details. Right now Thailand is probably trying to sell them the rice left over from the sale to the Ivory Coast. China is trying to purchase the rice from the next harvest.

Just out of curiosity what has the commerce minister got to do with it. I thought Yingluck was traveling all over the world or at least to places with nice shopping malls trying to sell rice. You don't suppose he is trying to muscle in on Yingluck's free ride do you? Thaksin won't stand for that.

[BangkokHank]

It's possible to sell just about anything - if you lower the price enough. So until they tell us what price they will get, we can't know whether they got a good deal or not. If they had managed to get a good price, I'm sure they would have told us what it was. Lacking that crucial information, I think it's safe to assume that the taxpayers of Thailand, myself including, took a loss on this sale - and that they're just happy to offload some of this rotting rice on anybody - at any price. All of that waste, trouble and distortion of the market, just to buy some votes.

[webfact]

Beijing embassy confirms rice deal
Sawitree Rinwong
The Nation

Thai diplomat says 1.2 million tonnes will be shipped to Harbin in three lots for "good price"

BANGKOK: -- The government yesterday insisted it had secured a rice sale to China, with a Thai official in Beijing confirming the 1.2-million-tonne contract, which is part of Thailand's plan to export 4 million-5 million tonnes of rice to that country this year.

While Commerce Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan flatly dismissed the Democrat Party's speculation that his ministry is faking the rice deal with China, Phaichit Viboontanasarn, the commercial attache at the Thai Embassy in Beijing, confirmed the deal with a Chinese state enterprise, saying the price is close to the Bt15,000-per-tonne pledging price but lower than US$600 (about Bt19,020).

Under the memorandum of understanding signed recently, the rice would be transported to the city of Harbin in three shipments.

"In 2013, we target to export 4-5 million tonnes of rice to China, where demand is high after floods and crop losses," Phaichit said. "The government has instructed all units to speed up the sale of rice and other products to China. Deals with major cities like Shanghai, Zhejiang, Hangzhou and Shandong should be wrapped up soon."

Niwattumrong has come under attack from Democrat MPs who, referring to a report by Reuters, cast doubt on the existence of the deal. The minister revealed the deal on September 8 after his return from China. In an article by Reuters dated September 12, industry sources were quoted as doubting that China would want that much rice.

Phaichit said this sale is on top of the government-to-government deal for 1.2 million tonnes signed during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's visit to Nanning, where she met Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. The first shipment of 300,000 tonnes is scheduled before the end of this year.

This would help Thailand reduce its rice stocks from over 10 million tonnes at present, which should push up global rice prices, he said.

Niwattumrong said that while in Harbin he discussed the deal with Beidahuang Group - a Chinese state enterprise. In two weeks, the contract will be signed, either in Thailand or China.

"The price is good," he said. "I don't know who Reuters talked to. I was involved in the negotiations and I don't need to lie."

Niwattumrong has said Thailand would start delivering rice to Iran in October, and Iraqi representatives will come to Thailand soon for talks.

The deal has raised suspicions given the low volume of Thai rice exports to China in the past few years. In 2009, Thailand shipped only 328,238 tonnes to China. From 2010 through 2012, the volume was 264,207; 267,846; and 143,082 tonnes.

The Commerce Ministry has claimed that it has successfully raised Bt150 billion from selling rice stocks and is confident that the figure would hit Bt200 billion at the end of this year. The ministry is now under fire, pressured to speed up the rice releases as a Finance Ministry committee is about to conclude the exact cost of the rice-pledging scheme this week.

Appearing upset with the move, Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Phuangrach said the Finance Ministry committee's task is to follow the money trail of the scheme, not to inspect the scheme. He said it is the government's job to plug the project's loopholes.

Besides the anticipated huge loss, the pledging scheme is also implicated in a corruption case. Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said the agency has now inspected half of the documents used to substantiate allegations that some companies are benefiting from the scheme.


-- The Nation 2013-09-17

[cloudhopper]

Beijing embassy confirms rice deal

What a steaming pile of crap. A Thai government official in their embassy is 'confirming' the story. A story that says Thailand will export 4-5 million tons of rice to China this year, while last year China imported 2.34 million tons of rice from all sources (and that was 3X the previous year). Must be nice for these ministers to have a press that dishes out whatever they happen to excrete without question and a clueless populace that laps it all up and thinks it's nutritious.

[SOTIRIOS]

And the price??

A qualified guess would be about half of the pledging price, not to forget grease for the wheels!

...and maybe for animal feed....or something other than human consumption.....

[jbrain]

Thai diplomat says 1.2 million tonnes will be shipped to Harbin in three lots for "good price"

Phaichit said this sale is on top of the government-to-government deal for 1.2 million tonnes signed during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's visit to Nanning, where she met Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. The first shipment of 300,000 tonnes is scheduled before the end of this year.

Take a close look at the words above as they are the keywords of the article. The diplomat has not confirmed anything, other than that the rice is sold WAY below market value, probably given away at the price it cost to store it.

The diplomat has only RE-CONFIRMED a deal previously done by Yingluck e.g. the government to government sale.

Another thing to not is that the first part of three will be shipped before the end of the year, no word on over how many years the other 2/3 will be shipped.

Also take note that ALL statements so far have been made by Thai people, while the Chinese keep their lips tight together for some reason.

Edited September 17, 2013 by jbrain

[ggold]

Interesting that they didn't try to get a Chinese official to confirm this. Why would the Chinese want to keep this deal secret. Maybe because there is no deal? I also wonder what a "good price" is in Thai speak, good for who Thailand or China. They obviously didn't get close to the subsidised costs!

[lungmi]

Ok, may be may be not. I believe the facts. But there are no facts without transparency. Open the books, the contracts and we will see the facts.