RI negotiates rice deal with Thailand

RI negotiates rice deal with Thailand

BANGKOK (Reuters): Indonesia is renegotiating a deal to buy
100,000 tons of rice from the Thai government, a senior commerce
ministry official said on Monday.

Pracha Charutrakulchai, head of the foreign trade department,
told reporters that Indonesia asked Thailand to lower the price
of the rice from $282 per ton agreed earlier. In exchange for the
price reduction, Indonesia was willing to pay in cash instead of
deferred credit as earlier agreed, he said.

"Indonesia said it is now paying Pakistan $220 per ton on an
FOB basis for low-quality rice. We will consult with Thai rice
exporters on the issue," he said.

"The commerce ministry will have an official discussion with
the Indonesian counterpart again very soon, probably the first
week of January," he added.

Indonesia had agreed to buy 500,000 tons of 25 percent grade
rice on a government-to-government basis from Thailand in August
-- 400,000 tons on cash terms and 100,000 tons on deferred credit
terms with a repayment period of three years at an interest rate
of three percent over the London Inter-Bank Offered Rates
(LIBOR).

It later canceled the cash deal, but said it would keep the
credit deal.