The Post.com
Monday, April 7, 2008
Agence France Presse
BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Sunday urged the public not to hoard rice, promising for the second time in three days there would be enough for everyone in the kingdom.
With soaring global rice prices setting off fears of shortages and even unrest in some nations, the people of Thailand-the world's number one rice exporter-will not have to go without, he said.
The rising prices have sparked panic buying, as people stock up in hopes of beating future price hikes. Meanwhile exporters have accused mills and middlemen of hoarding in hopes of more price increases in the near future.
Samak said prices would stabilise once the current harvest reaches market and urged Thais not to overbuy.
"The production of rice is on the normal schedule," he said on his weekly television show.
"People are now buying more rice than they normally would. But I am buying the normal amount, and will buy more when it runs out."
International demand for Thai rice has soared after other top exporters Vietnam and India imposed limits on exports to ensure domestic supply.
The benchmark Thai variety, Pathumthani fragrant rice, was priced Wednesday at 930 dollars per tonne, up 52 percent from a month earlier, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
The head of the government's rice department Prasert Kosalvich told AFP that there was no chance of a rice shortage in Thailand, with national stocks at about two million tonnes.
"We have enough in stocks for domestic consumption," he said.
Thailand consumes about 6.6 million tonnes per year, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The kingdom last year exported about 9.5 million tonnes, and this year's exports are expected to drop only slightly to 9.2 million tonnes, according to the FAO.
But across the region, other countries are taking steps to rein in prices while ensuring their people have enough to eat.Cambodia has banned rice exports in hopes of lowering prices. Food prices in the impoverished country have jumped 40 percent over the last year. About 300 people protested outside parliament to demand wage increases and further government action to rein in prices, in a country where one-third of the population lives on less than 50 cents a day.
Big importers like Philippines and Sri Lanka, which don't grow enough rice to meet their local demand, are scrambling to sign deals to ensure their countries have enough to eat.
Vietnam has agreed to supply the Philippines with 1.5 million tonnes of rice this year, while Sri Lanka's trade minister was expected to travel to Myanmar this weekend to seek 100,000 tonnes.
Philippines President Gloria Arroyo announced Friday an ambitious plan to overhaul the country's farm sector to boost rice production.
But that scheme will takes years to see results, and in the meantime troops have been drafted to deliver rice to poor neighbourhoods in the capital Manila, while hoarders have been threatened with prison.
In Bangladesh, where floods and a cyclone ravaged the national crop, a paramilitary group has been ordered to monitor markets to prevent price gauging.
The nation's military chief reportedly told hungry villagers to cope with the rice situation by eating potatoes.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Agence France Presse
BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Sunday urged the public not to hoard rice, promising for the second time in three days there would be enough for everyone in the kingdom.
With soaring global rice prices setting off fears of shortages and even unrest in some nations, the people of Thailand-the world's number one rice exporter-will not have to go without, he said.
The rising prices have sparked panic buying, as people stock up in hopes of beating future price hikes. Meanwhile exporters have accused mills and middlemen of hoarding in hopes of more price increases in the near future.
Samak said prices would stabilise once the current harvest reaches market and urged Thais not to overbuy.
"The production of rice is on the normal schedule," he said on his weekly television show.
"People are now buying more rice than they normally would. But I am buying the normal amount, and will buy more when it runs out."
International demand for Thai rice has soared after other top exporters Vietnam and India imposed limits on exports to ensure domestic supply.
The benchmark Thai variety, Pathumthani fragrant rice, was priced Wednesday at 930 dollars per tonne, up 52 percent from a month earlier, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
The head of the government's rice department Prasert Kosalvich told AFP that there was no chance of a rice shortage in Thailand, with national stocks at about two million tonnes.
"We have enough in stocks for domestic consumption," he said.
Thailand consumes about 6.6 million tonnes per year, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The kingdom last year exported about 9.5 million tonnes, and this year's exports are expected to drop only slightly to 9.2 million tonnes, according to the FAO.
But across the region, other countries are taking steps to rein in prices while ensuring their people have enough to eat.Cambodia has banned rice exports in hopes of lowering prices. Food prices in the impoverished country have jumped 40 percent over the last year. About 300 people protested outside parliament to demand wage increases and further government action to rein in prices, in a country where one-third of the population lives on less than 50 cents a day.
Big importers like Philippines and Sri Lanka, which don't grow enough rice to meet their local demand, are scrambling to sign deals to ensure their countries have enough to eat.
Vietnam has agreed to supply the Philippines with 1.5 million tonnes of rice this year, while Sri Lanka's trade minister was expected to travel to Myanmar this weekend to seek 100,000 tonnes.
Philippines President Gloria Arroyo announced Friday an ambitious plan to overhaul the country's farm sector to boost rice production.
But that scheme will takes years to see results, and in the meantime troops have been drafted to deliver rice to poor neighbourhoods in the capital Manila, while hoarders have been threatened with prison.
In Bangladesh, where floods and a cyclone ravaged the national crop, a paramilitary group has been ordered to monitor markets to prevent price gauging.
The nation's military chief reportedly told hungry villagers to cope with the rice situation by eating potatoes.
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