In 2009 the warehouse storage capacity was only 1.5 million tonnes compared with annual paddy production of over 20 million tonnes. Of this capacity, less than one-third was regularly used because it was often decrepit and inconveniently located (BMI, 2011). To enhance the warehouse system, the government set a target of building a four million tonne storage system in the MRD by the end of 2011: upgrading the existing 1.5 million tonne storage system and building new warehouses with capacity for 2.5 million tonnes.56 The objective of these improvements was to increase the returns from rice exports by giving enterprises more flexibility as to the timing of shipment and lifting the quality of stored rice.