V8 Intertrading has won the bid for 15,000 tonnes of ten-year-old pledging scheme rice, with its offer of Bt19.07/kg, in an auction held today by the Public Warehouse Organisation.
The company’s bid was the highest of those submitted by six local rice trading companies.
They were V8 Intertrading, Tanasan Rice, SSMR Karnkaset, Sup Saeng Thong Rice, Sahatan and BNK Agriculture. A seventh company, Ubon Vio Agriculture, did not join the bidding.
Tanasan Rice CEO, Supachai Vorraapinyaporn, one of Thailand’s major rice exporters, said today that the six companies participated in the bidding because they are confident that the rice, even though it is ten-years-old, is still marketable due to the high demand for rice on the world market.
Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said that, following the opening of the sealed bids, commerce officials have started negotiating with the successful bidder, adding that he expects a deal to be concluded today.
He explained that no reserve price was set, because the Commerce Ministry wanted the bidders to assess the price of the rice in question in the light of its quality and its intended use.
He also said, however, that the Commerce Ministry had in mind a price that this lot of old rice should fetch, rather than the Bt4-5/kg as animal feed specified by the previous government.
Phumtham had said that he was optimistic that the rice could fetch between 14 and 15 baht/kg, which would, after deductions of relevant expenses, generate about 200 million baht in net revenue.
If a deal is concluded, the minister claimed it would mark the end of the controversial rice pledging scheme, which began during the administration of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
