A Thai farmer harvests rice (Photo: Thai Visa) Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand has sold an additional 1.66 million tonnes of rice worth 49 million USD from state stockpiles, reported the Thai Ministry of Commerce.
The amount sold accounted for 90 percent of the volume open for auction last month.
Thailand is the world's second-biggest rice exporter after India, and still has stocks of about 3 million tonnes left over from the previous government's rice-buying scheme.
The current government said it will be able to offload the remaining stock, including 160,000 tonnes of high-quality rice and 2.7 million tonnes of spoiled rice, by the year-end.
Thailand officially set a target of exporting 9.5 million tonnes of rice this year, but the Ministry of Commerce said 10 million tonnes was also achievable.
The country plans to join a rice auction in the Philippines, one of the world's leading rice buyers, which plans to buy 250,000 tonnes of the grain next month to increase its stockpiles.-VNA
VNA
