Bangladesh prods Thailand for urgent purchase of 200,000 tonnes rice: Report

Flood-hit Bangladesh is in talks with Thailand for an urgent purchase of 200,000 tonnes of rice to refill its decreasing stock, according to a report.

The Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) of the Thai commerce ministry says Bangladesh is seeking the rice within 60 days of sealing the deal, Bangkok Post reported on Monday.

Sri Lanka is also seeking the same quantity of rice within the same period.

"The countries need to refill their stocks immediately so they are turning to Thailand, although it's been a long time since they've bought significant quantities of Thai rice," Bangkok Port quoted DFT Deputy Director-General Keerati Rushchano as saying.

Each country is seeking mostly parboiled grade and common grade white rice, the report said.

Thai Rice Exporters Association said the benchmark common grade 5 percent white rice was quoted at $410 per tonne, while parboiled 100 percent grade white rice was $439 a tonne, according to the report.

A Bangkok-based rice trader, requesting anonymity, told the Bangkok Post that Bangladesh had asked for their rice price quotes to compare the prices offered by the government and private firms.

The Bangladesh government has bought 250,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam under a government-to-government deal and the shipments are under way.

The purchase is part of a plan to buy 600,000 tonnes of rice under government-to-government deals with Thailand, Vietnam and India, and through tenders in order to tackle soaring prices.

Rice prices hiked and state reserves for the grain hit a six-year low recently after floods hit fields, potentially wiping out hundreds of thousands of tonnes of crops.