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Wednesday May 14, 2008

Malaysia buys 200,000 tonnes of Thai rice

By FLORENCE A. SAMY


KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 200,000 metric tonnes of rice will arrive from Thailand by the end of June to ensure supply for six months and also increase the country’s stockpile

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said the first 50,000 metric tonnes were expected to arrive within two weeks with the rest arriving in stages.

»The association has agreed to supply 100,000 metric tonnes of 15% broken grade Thai white rice and another 100,000 metric tonnes of 5% broken grade« DATUK MUSTAPA MOHAMED

For the first time, consumers would also enjoy rice subsidy totalling RM725mil to help low-income earners, he added.

These were among the several short- and long-term measures to ensure adequate stockpile. The measures would help increase Malaysia’s current self-sufficiency level of 73% to 86% by 2010, Mustapa said.

Bernas, he said, had signed an agreement on Monday with the Thai Rice Exporters’ Association to buy the 200,000 metric tonnes of rice at market prices to increase the stockpile.

“The association has agreed to supply 100,000 metric tonnes of 15% broken grade Thai white rice and another 100,000 metric tonnes of 5% broken grade,” he told reporters.

However, Mustapa declined to reveal how much was paid to Thailand, the largest exporter of rice.

It was reported earlier that Malaysia wanted to pay US$850 (RM2,730) per tonne of rice while Thailand insisted it should be based on the market value of about US$1,000 (RM3,213).

The market price hovered around US$1,100 (RM3,533) per tonne last week. On Monday, the price of Thai white rice dropped to US$980 (RM3,150) but this was still a 164% increase from the US$371 (RM1,192) per tonne last year.

Still, Malaysia would have spent at least half a billion ringgit if the rice was bought at US$850.

On Monday, the Cabinet Committee on Inflation chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced various strategies to stabilise the price of rice, including maintaining the controlled price of between RM1.65 and RM1.80 per kg for the Super Tempatan 15% rice.

For the first time, the price of Super Special Tempatan 5% and Super Special Tempatan 10% was also fixed at RM2.80 and RM2.70 respectively effective June 1.

“The first 100,000 metric tonnes of rice from Thailand will be sold between RM1.65 and RM1.80 per kg. With this price, we have to absorb big losses and subsidise imported rice for the first time but we want to ensure the interest of low-income earners are protected,” he added.

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