Thai govt sets lower rice buying price

BANGKOK -- Thailand will buy rice from farmers at 11,800 baht ($328) per ton under a new intervention scheme starting on March 16 and will keep the grain in stocks, the commerce minister said on Friday.

"The Rice Committee agreed that the intervention price should not be pegged at a very high level as global prices are not that high," Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasia told reporters.

However, the new price is only slightly lower than the 12,000 baht per ton set under a scheme that ended in February, a price that exporters said made Thai rice uncompetitive.

The new intervention price equates to an export price of around $580-$620 per ton, exporters said.

The government aimed to buy 2.5 million tons under the scheme, the minister said. It will run until July.

After previous intervention schemes, the government was believed to be holding around 4 million tons of milled rice.

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