RI orders 100,000 tons of rice from Thailand

RI orders 100,000 tons of rice from Thailand

BANGKOK (Reuter): Indonesia has ordered 100,000 tons of Thai white rice with 25 percent for shipment in August and September, a Commerce Ministry official said yesterday.

Negotiations on a further 100,000 tons are close to conclusion, industry sources said.

The first order for the rice, of which up to 25 percent are broken grains, was agreed at US$200 per ton on a Bangkok free-on- board (FOB) basis and is worth a total of $20 million, the official confirmed.

News of the rice deal has raised prices of all grades of rice, a trader at Soon Hua Seng Rice Co. said. The 25 percent rice is around $205-$210 per ton now against $200 a ton early last week.

Another official said the state Rice Policy Committee would decide on how the Indonesian order would be fulfilled.

Last week, the ministry bought from 39 exporters a total of almost 69,000 tons of the 25 percent rice at 5,072 baht per ton which would be sent to Indonesia, said the exporter.

Soon Hua Seng alone sold about 15,000 tons to the ministry, he said.

On China, the exporter said nothing has come through because the Chinese have not raised the dollars needed for the purchase.

The Thai rice trade has been expecting big orders from southern China where recent floods have caused massive damage to rice fields.

Meanwhile, the Philippines said it would pay Indonesia US$39 million in cash for a loan of around 197,300 tons of rice.

An official of the government's National Food Authority (NFA) said the loan was supposed to fall due by the end of the year, but Indonesia asked that it be paid ahead of the due date, the official said.

An initial $20 million will be given to Indonesia by Aug. 21. The remaining $19 million will be paid within 30 days after Aug. 21.