BANGKOK – The Ministry of Commerce has sold over a million tons of substandard rice to private companies at auction.
Deputy Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade, Keerati Rushchano disclosed today that there were 21 qualified buyers who made bids on 1.03 million tons of inedible rice stored at 157 warehouses in 34 provinces.
The rice put up for auction is of inferior quality with a shelf life of some five years. The bidders were mainly alternative energy producers. The auction ended with a final bid of two – three baht per kilo, amounting to over three billion baht in revenue.
The government is preparing to auction off another four million tons of both edible and inedible rice in May and June.
