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.