THAILAND TO SEEK CLARIFICATION ON U.S. RICE PRICES
Thailand will this week seek
clarification from the U.S. About its decision to freeze rice
export prices from January to early April, Commerce Minister
Montri Pongpanich said.
    Montri told reporters he will seek a meeting with U.S.
Ambassador William Brown to determine why the U.S. Failed to
set its weekly rice prices in accordance with rising world
prices during the period.
    He said the U.S. Has followed a policy of weakening world
rice prices by announcing highly subsidised export prices lower
than those quoted by Thai traders.
    Thai officials said weekly rice prices as announced by the
U.S. Agriculture Department were unchanged for 11 weeks up to
April 8.
    Thailand, a major rice exporter, has criticised the U.S.
Farm Act which provides heavy subsidies to U.S. Exporters
enabling them to compete with Thai exporters.
    Thai officials said average export prices of Thai rice fell
19 pct last year and another 5.8 pct during the first quarter
this year.
    The Board of Trade said Thailand exported 1.23 mln tonnes
in January/March, down from 1.29 mln a year ago.
    It said the export decline was partly due to the reluctance
of Thai traders to accept all foreign orders as world prices
did not rise in line with firming domestic prices.
    The board said, however, that Thailand may export more rice
later this year, especially to Africa, the Middle East and
Asia, due to lower production in many drought affected African
countries and to expected small exportable surpluses in Burma
and Pakistan.
    It said Thai rice exports to nine major African buyers rose
to 351,889 tonnes during the first quarter from 93,038 a year
earlier.
 REUTER
