Bangkok, June 18 - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday he would meet rice exporters to discuss the government's plans for releasing rice stocks after the sale of 2 million tonnes was delayed indefinitely.
"I will talk with rice exporters in an effort to reach an understanding on our new policy on rice stocks, what has happened and what will be changed from now on," Abhisit told reporters.
He said the meeting would be on Friday or next Tuesday.
In May the prime minister blocked an attempt by the commerce minister to sell 2 million tonnes of rice from government stocks after a disagreement between them over prices.
Bids for the rice had come in at around 14,000 baht ($410) per tonne, well below market prices of around 16,500 baht. The cabinet said that was too low and would mean huge losses for the government if it went ahead and sold at that price.
The delay raised concern about relations between two coalition parties and angered exporters, some of whom threatened to take legal action against the government, officials said.
"Around 100,000 tonnes of the rice was delivered to exporters who had signed contracts and already paid for it," said Prapol Milindhachinda, secretary to the Commerce Minister.
Traders and exporters said they expected the government to release its stocks eventually to eliminate storage costs and to free warehouses for the next buying scheme likely to start in November.
Government rice stocks have risen to the equivalent of around 5.5 million tonnes of milled grain, probably the highest ever, traders said.
The government does not publish data on stocks. It buys rice from farmers during the harvesting season every year.
For the current crop, it paid farmers 11,800 baht ($345) per tonne for paddy, equivalent to an export price of around $520 per tonne. On Wednesday exporters quoted $580 per tonne as demand from Africa lent support to the market. ($1=34.11 Baht)