China's COFCO to buy 1 mln tonnes of rice from Thailand

[webfact]

China's COFCO to buy 1 mln tonnes of rice from Thailand
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, March 5 - China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) today agreed to buy one million tonnes of rice from Thailand, according to Thailand's Foreign Trade Department.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by COFCO and the Foreign Trade Department. The move was aimed to release rice in the Thai government's stockpiles and to increase the proportion of Thai rice in China.

COFCO is one of China's state-owned food processing holding companies.

Foreign Trade Department's director-general Surasak Riengkrue said department representatives were in China yesterday and today for rice purchase negotiations and closer trading relations between the two parties.
The meeting was a success, he said, for the MoU was signed, with rice to be shipped to China in a series of shipments within 12 months. The first lot of rice is to be transported from March to July at 400,000 tonnes, with the end of March aiming at 100,000 tonnes of rice to be delivered.

Mr Surasak said this MoU is a positive sign that China shows interests to buy more rice from Thailand.

The Foreign Trade Department will promote and invite Thai rice entrepreneurs to offer rice prices and improve rice quality to deliver to COFCO soonest as stated in the contract.

He added that Thailand is negotiating with other countries to sell more rice and expected to succeed in signing government-to-government agreements with several more countries.

The department also plans to release rice by inviting interested entrepreneurs to offer bids to buy rice in the government's stockpiles next Monday at 500,000 tonnes. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-03-05

[dominique355]

An MoU is not a signed and binding contract, so wait and see if it will become a true obligation for China.

Also we do not know what quality of rice China is claimed to be interested in.

Interestingly no price is disclosed. I wonder why?

[Prbkk]

A bargain for China but good news for the farmers. Clearly, the rice-pledging is a lousy policy but the payment needs to be honoured

[winstonc]

A bargain for China but good news for the farmers. Clearly, the rice-pledging is a lousy policy but the payment needs to be honoured

did you read this through...no contract .was signed...all blah...blah...blah again this year they have sold billions of tons...well no they havnt actually...

[animatic]

We have heard this exact thing a MOU, about the exact same buyer for the exact same product before.

Nothing was bought.

Hard to not see it as more smoke and mirrors stalling

[Thai at Heart]

If you can't take an MOU to the bank, and use it as guarantee for anything, it isn't worth a cent.

I will sign one to say that there is a huge market for rice in Wales.

Check the headlines for COFCO. NOT A PEEP ON GOOGLE. Not one PEEP..........................

[dru2]

If you can't take an MOU to the bank, and use it as guarantee for anything, it isn't worth a cent.

I will sign one to say that there is a huge market for rice in Wales.

Check the headlines for COFCO. NOT A PEEP ON GOOGLE. Not one PEEP..........................

I absolutely agree that an MOU is not a binding contract. But COFCO does indeed exist:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COFCO_Group:

... COFCO, full name China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, is China's largest food processing, manufacturer and trader.

[bigbamboo]

A bargain for China but good news for the farmers. Clearly, the rice-pledging is a lousy policy but the payment needs to be honoured

How can you say that when there is nothing said about when and how much the Chinese will pay?

And that's always assuming it's a real deal this time.

Edited March 5, 2014 by bigbamboo

[siampolee]

China's COFCO to buy 1 mln tonnes of rice from Thailand

In playing ''Chinese Whispers'' it probably ends up thus.

Shopping list 1 coffee today,1 mini crouton and a bag of ice and a toilet roll.

Edited March 5, 2014 by siampolee

[Crushdepth]

Hope it's the "real deal" this time and not more lies.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ikke]

If you can't take an MOU to the bank, and use it as guarantee for anything, it isn't worth a cent.

I will sign one to say that there is a huge market for rice in Wales.

Check the headlines for COFCO. NOT A PEEP ON GOOGLE. Not one PEEP..........................

Something must be wrong with your Google I find a lot of peeps...........

[haroldc]

The MOU actually was signed in October, 2013 for the sale of 1 million tons over a period of 5 years. See http://www.cofco.com/en/about/news/23381.html

There is no news on the COFCO website about a new MOU to buy Thai rice.

Also, see http://www.efeedlink.com/contents/10-14-2013/d109d5f4-2687-4e4d-a4ba-2323473c4c4c-b071.html

This is not a G2G deal, and the rice must be new rice, not old rice.

Another piece of misleading propaganda from the kleptocracy.

[Scamper]

The fact that this is only a " Memorandum of Understanding " - which is a form of gentleman's agreement - in itself acknowledges that the administration no longer has the power to conduct legal negotiations. In fact, as of today, they do not have the power to discuss anything, as the date for a parliamentary sitting was yesterday, and the caretaker status of the administration has been stripped as per the constitution. Two former members of the Supreme Court are already of that opinion, and the Constitutional Court will undoubtedly rule on it this month.

[jonclark]

Given the volume of bull that has come from the caretakers recently, my gut feeling is that this is a deception once again to buy time for them PTP to get back into proper power, keep the farmers at arms length with a promise, and drive through that trillion baht loan which would then be used accordingly.

Hope its true, but my gut says no.

[jonclark]

Given the volume of bull that has come from the caretakers recently, my gut feeling is that this is a deception once again to buy time for them PTP to get back into proper power, keep the farmers at arms length with a promise, and drive through that trillion baht loan which would then be used accordingly.

Hope its true, but my gut says no.

[Valentine]

There are never any hard, indisputable fats surrounding the whole rice issue whether it be sales. storage. money in, money out & so forth which all points to cover ups & certainly more smoke & mirrors.

[rubl]

We have heard this exact thing a MOU, about the exact same buyer for the exact same product before.

Nothing was bought.

Hard to not see it as more smoke and mirrors stalling

Well, at least some had all expenses payd trips to China to 'negotiate' and sign their names, etc., etc. Maybe as you say even the same people for the second time.

"The meeting was a success, he said, for the MoU was signed, with rice to be shipped to China in a series of shipments within 12 months. The first lot of rice is to be transported from March to July at 400,000 tonnes, with the end of March aiming at 100,000 tonnes of rice to be delivered."

I guess details on prices and how much profit the government has made on this deal will be announce shortly? I mean there still 130 billion to be paid to farmers, millers, warehouse owners and the like. I'm not even speaking about the 700 billion Baht the BAAC is owed and may need to keep in it's books for a while.

[ChrisY1]

Mmmm....hard to believe this claptrap.....certainly sounds promising....but so have many other rice sale deals in the past...??

[winstonc]

a rice topic is always red free...at least they know when to button it...maybe the thought of them agreeing with others .just makes the stomach turn..

[looping]

Honestly, who in their right mind would want to buy rotten rice, at ANY price.

The claim is as rotten as the rice.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ManofReason]

Now all the faux sympathy shown earlier by the Yellows for the farmers when they thought the late payments would entice the rural folk to join mob in the street is exposed for the fraud it was. The government secures a deal to sell 1 million tonnes of rice and the Yellows are devastated. They would rather the farmers be forced to continue to suffer for as long as possible in the hope that they are eventually broken and it becomes that little bit more likely that the mob can finally steal power. All the anti-democrats know is how to sabotage at all costs. They are actively hoping this deal collapses - selfish fools.

[ManofReason]

The fact that this is only a " Memorandum of Understanding " - which is a form of gentleman's agreement - in itself acknowledges that the administration no longer has the power to conduct legal negotiations. In fact, as of today, they do not have the power to discuss anything, as the date for a parliamentary sitting was yesterday, and the caretaker status of the administration has been stripped as per the constitution. Two former members of the Supreme Court are already of that opinion, and the Constitutional Court will undoubtedly rule on it this month.

Now all the faux sympathy shown earlier by the Yellows for the farmers when they thought the late payments would entice the rural folk to join mob in the street is exposed for the fraud it was. The government secures a deal to sell 1 million tonnes of rice and the Yellows are devastated. They would rather the farmers be forced to continue to suffer for as long as possible in the hope that they are eventually broken and it becomes that little bit more likely that the mob can finally steal power. All the anti-democrats know is how to sabotage at all costs. They are actively hoping this deal collapses - selfish fools.

[Crushdepth]

There are never any hard, indisputable fats surrounding the whole rice issue whether it be sales. storage. money in, money out & so forth which all points to cover ups & certainly more smoke & mirrors.

Signing an MOU rather than a contract does not inspire confidence, in that it is non-binding and the whole point is that it can backed out of. This could easily be a publicity stunt. Show me the money.

[Crushdepth]

Now all the faux sympathy shown earlier by the Yellows for the farmers when they thought the late payments would entice the rural folk to join mob in the street is exposed for the fraud it was. The government secures a deal to sell 1 million tonnes of rice and the Yellows are devastated. They would rather the farmers be forced to continue to suffer for as long as possible in the hope that they are eventually broken and it becomes that little bit more likely that the mob can finally steal power. All the anti-democrats know is how to sabotage at all costs. They are actively hoping this deal collapses - selfish fools.

As a Yellow Reactionary Fascist, I confirm that I am personally devastated by this somewhat rickety possibility of an inadequate rice deal for an unknown but probably lousy price, which will not deliver enough cash to pay more than a small proportion of the 1.4 million households owed money, more than a year too late to save the government. I will be slashing my wrists any minute now.

[Robby nz]

Did we not all see Yingluck up on a stage shaking hands with the Chinese Premiere when he was here, over the signing of a MOU to buy 1 million tons of rice over 5 years, then the next day Yingluck came out and announced the deal had been upped to 5 million tons with no confirmation from China.

As far as I know that has never turned into a binding contract nor has any rice actually been shipped.

I remember here was also a comment at that time that the Ministry Of Commerce was going to follow up on a MOU that had been signed with China 2 years previously

Now we are told there is a new MOU which before any rice leaves the country would have to be negotiated as a binding contract, even if that happens it will not be done quickly.

I wonder if the farmers understand the difference between a MOU and a contract ?

These announcements could well be just to try to keep the farmers hopes up while letting them down again and again.

It is really despicable how this caretaker Govt is treating the farmers.

[Thai at Heart]

Did we not all see Yingluck up on a stage shaking hands with the Chinese Premiere when he was here, over the signing of a MOU to buy 1 million tons of rice over 5 years, then the next day Yingluck came out and announced the deal had been upped to 5 million tons with no confirmation from China.

As far as I know that has never turned into a binding contract nor has any rice actually been shipped.

I remember here was also a comment at that time that the Ministry Of Commerce was going to follow up on a MOU that had been signed with China 2 years previously

Now we are told there is a new MOU which before any rice leaves the country would have to be negotiated as a binding contract, even if that happens it will not be done quickly.

I wonder if the farmers understand the difference between a MOU and a contract ?

These announcements could well be just to try to keep the farmers hopes up while letting them down again and again.

It is really despicable how this caretaker Govt is treating the farmers.

Forget whether the farmers understand what an MOU is, it appears that the entirety of the Thai media doesn't either.

[Hedghog]

I'm doing my bit.

I purchased 50kg today.

Every little helps.

[aimbc]

Now all the faux sympathy shown earlier by the Yellows for the farmers when they thought the late payments would entice the rural folk to join mob in the street is exposed for the fraud it was. The government secures a deal to sell 1 million tonnes of rice and the Yellows are devastated. They would rather the farmers be forced to continue to suffer for as long as possible in the hope that they are eventually broken and it becomes that little bit more likely that the mob can finally steal power. All the anti-democrats know is how to sabotage at all costs. They are actively hoping this deal collapses - selfish fools.

Stop spreading false rumors. No one want to see the farmers suffer. The only ones are PTP, who stole the money from the farmers as the money alloted for them has not reached them.

If anything the quality of rice will not fetch enough money or may cause the deal not to go through at all. The government has the obligation to disclose all transactions to the taxpayers. But they refuse to and the law enforcement arm refuses to investigate this fraudulent actions against the farmers and taxpayers. Disclose the trouble with the policy so that we can help the farmers. How simple is that? Is there something they need to hide from the public?

[Bangmod]

A bargain for China but good news for the farmers. Clearly, the rice-pledging is a lousy policy but the payment needs to be honoured

Great to hear an anti-government remark from you for first time ever...

Have you also found 1 of the bottles of ear drops Chalerm lost while being undercover in Lumphini Park??

[JesseFrank]

This ( fake ) government has in the past 6 months made MOU's for more tonnes of rice than Thailand can produce in 5 years. Yet they are 800 Billion Baht in debt.

Edited March 5, 2014 by JesseFrank