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Smuggling keeps lid on sticky rice price


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Smuggling keeps lid on sticky rice price

By The Nation

 

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Sticky rice have been  smuggled into the country, but ironically it has helped curb soaring price, said Chukiat Opaswong, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

 

Some merchants, he said, had smuggled 100,000 tonnes of glutinous rice into the country  from Vietnam via Thailand’s neighboring countries, adding that they were then mixed with Thai glutinous rice before going on sale in the local market.

 

   Thai sticky rice is currently priced at Bt45,000-46,000 per tonne or Bt45-46 per kilogram while it could rise to US$ 1,500/tonne in export,  compared to  $600 per tonne  or Bt18-19 per kilogram in Vietnam. Thus, smugglers stand to make a profit of Bt25 per kilogram.

 

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Some merchants have been  arrested and charged for their wrong-doing, with some smuggled batches weighing up 30 tonnes each.

 

The quality of Vietnamese sticky rice is lower than their Thai counterpart as it tends to turn crumbly, not sticky, when cooked.  However, their quality improve when mixed with Thai produce.

 

If consumers feel the quality of glutinous rice is not good enough,  they can assume that they were smuggled in from Vietnam, Chukiat said.

 

However, Chukiat said  it is widely believed that the  price of sticky rice would have risen to Bt 60-70 per kilogram if not for the smuggling.

 

Recently, the price fell to Bt 40-41/ kilogram with the launch of packaged bags, targeting  low-income people.  Also, merchants have refrained from price speculation due to strict stock checking and the fact that  the new harvest of glutinous rice will enter the market next month.

 

Wichai Phochitkit, director-general of Internal Trade Department said  the new supply will soon be released into the market, adding that the department will set the appropriate price as it has a direct impact on farmers' income.

 

It is reported that Thong Fah shops and the local communities have pushed the Ministry of Commerce for  further releases of  glutinous rice bags through the Department of Internal Trade.

 

The ministry has been releasing glutinous rice stock since 11 September. However, it has yet to reach   consumers  in many parts of the country while supply to Thong Fah stores will be delivered  this week.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30376337

 

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-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-09-18
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Sticky rice have been  smuggled into the country, but ironically it has helped curb soaring price, said Chukiat Opaswong, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

 

"The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty.

And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too."

Stephen Covey

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1 hour ago, meechai said:

 

"The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty.

And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too."

Stephen Covey

In this case it's the government cheating. The market is being manipulated by the government. The farmer keep growing subsided unlucrative crop and the tax payer pay more. The market should be free of interference. If some consumers are ready to pay more for higher quality Thai rice then so be it but I'm skeptical. 

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3 hours ago, Tayaout said:

In this case it's the government cheating. The market is being manipulated by the government. The farmer keep growing subsided unlucrative crop and the tax payer pay more. The market should be free of interference. If some consumers are ready to pay more for higher quality Thai rice then so be it but I'm skeptical. 

If some Thai producers were not given subsidised prices they would be out of work... this is why they do not evolve their farming practices to match other nations methods.

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  We have 3 fields and 2 families consume most of the rice we grow. Due to low yield last season we ran out of rice from the last harvest.  Two weeks ago, I bought 3-48 kg bags of #2 grade for 1080 baht a bag. I checked prices at several local mills ranging from 1,080 baht to 1,320 baht. Last week, Tesco in Surin was selling 5 kg bags of Thai rice for 79 baht each, 50 baht off the regular shelf price making the price of 10 bags (50kg) 790 baht. 

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