Bangkok, Dec 1 - The Thai government said it was in talks to sell 1.37 million tonnes of white rice and a premium grade fragrant rice from its stocks, mainly to exporters, a senior official said on Monday.
"We are negotiating with exporters in a bid to get higher prices," said Nattira Leewaroonpan, executive vice president of the Public Warehouse Organisation, a part of the Commerce Ministry that oversees the government's sale of rice from its stocks.
White rice was for exports only, while the premium grade fragrant rice can be sold domestically, Nattira said.
The rice was the leftover stock from the last tender in November at which the government sold only 1.8 million tonnes out of the total amount of 3.1 million tonnes it aimed to sell, she said.
The rice was from the old government stocks, bought from farmers during intervention schemes since 2005, she added.
Bidding prices ranged from the lowest 6,800 baht to the highest of 15,000 baht per tonnes, exporters said.
The government expected to finalise the sale by this week, she added.