RICE
Junta approves rice trade agreement with Philippines

BANGKOK: -- The junta has approved the signing of a rice trade agreement between Thailand and Philippines while putting the Commerce Ministry in charge of the deal.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has given full authority to the Commerce Ministry to strike a governmenttogovernment (G2G) contract with Philippines on rice sales.

An authorisation document is to be issued by Foreign Ministry for the Commerce Minister or his representative to take part in the signing.

The content of the draft agreement is reportedly similar to that of the previous one, except for the expiration date, which has been extended to December 31, 2016.

Under the contract, Thai officials will be able to seek direct negotiations with the Philippines government as well as engage in reverse auctions.

Source: https://app.sproutsocial.com/feeds/twitter/georgebkk/


-- The Nation 2014-09-03

Other than a gentleman's trade agreement for Thailand to sell and Philippines to buy, it doesn't seem there is any specifics as to quantity or price. Negotiations to follow.

Reading the link provided:

The price of common grade Thai 5 percent broken rice is currently at $435 a ton - in line with shipments from other major Asian exporters such as Vietnam and India. Not a whole lot Thailand can do about pricing so maybe it will try to barter for something in return. But that won't pay back the rice loans that NCPO took out to pay the rice farmers.

The bigger issue is the labor shortage created this summer at Thailand ports after hundreds of thousands of migrant workers fled Thailand amid fears of a military crackdown on migrant workers. Only around 50% of migrant rice stevedors have come back to work and around 20-30% percent of stevedoring companies are out of business. The 500,000 tons of parboiled rice grade headed for African buyers has not been shipped due to the port labour shortage. The real risk of delayed or nondelivery may force Thailand to concede some further price concessions to the Philippines, and exacerbate more pressure on the government loan obligations.

Other than a gentleman's trade agreement for Thailand to sell and Philippines to buy, it doesn't seem there is any specifics as to quantity or price. Negotiations to follow.

Reading the link provided:

The price of common grade Thai 5 percent broken rice is currently at $435 a ton - in line with shipments from other major Asian exporters such as Vietnam and India. Not a whole lot Thailand can do about pricing so maybe it will try to barter for something in return. But that won't pay back the rice loans that NCPO took out to pay the rice farmers.

The bigger issue is the labor shortage created this summer at Thailand ports after hundreds of thousands of migrant workers fled Thailand amid fears of a military crackdown on migrant workers. Only around 50% of migrant rice stevedors have come back to work and around 20-30% percent of stevedoring companies are out of business. The 500,000 tons of parboiled rice grade headed for African buyers has not been shipped due to the port labour shortage. The real risk of delayed or nondelivery may force Thailand to concede some further price concessions to the Philippines, and exacerbate more pressure on the government loan obligations.

good points. It may also force the government to cut some of the red tape used to make it difficult for the foreign workers to come back. They have already made progress with that and there is room for more progress.

Or here is an idea take the refugees in the camps and give them jobs. Win win situation.