BANGKOK: Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, has signed a contract to sell 300,000 tonnes of 15 percent broken grade white rice to Indonesia's state procurement body, Bulog, in a government deal, a senior Thai official said on Friday.
"We have signed a contract and I think the commerce minister will release all the details soon," said Anukul Tamprasit, president of the Public Warehouse Organisation (PWO), a government agency.
He declined to give further details, but traders close to the deal said the rice was sold at $550 per tonne, C&F, or around $515 per tonne, free on board (FOB).
That is some way below the current market price of $585 per tonne, FOB.
On Tuesday, Vietnamese media and a trader said Indonesia had bought 300,000 tonnes from Vietnam.
However, Vietnamese officials have been playing down reports of new deals, perhaps in an effort to stop prices rising further. .
And Bulog's CEO, Sutarto Alimoeso, denied the contracts, saying Bulog had not sought additional imports over and above the 500,000 tonnes bought from Vietnam in July.
Copyright Reuters, 2010
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