The first shipment of about 12,000 tonnes of the 200,000 tonnes of rice purchased from Thailand by Malaysia for its stockpile has already been sent over in the last two days, with the rest due to be delivered next month.

Two vessels carrying the 12,000 tonnes arrived in Port Klang on Thursday and yesterday, a member of the Thai Exporters Association said.

rice paddy padi beras from thailand in malaysia 190307According to a Bernama report from Bangkok, another 120,000 tonnes were either being loaded onto vessels, being packaged or being processed at several mills in Bangkok and its vicinity.

"We hope to finish delivering the entire order by June. Everything is on schedule. In fact, this delivery is taking place within two weeks of orders being finalised because normally it can take months," the official said.

The Asian Peninsula Corporation Limited, a joint venture between Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) and local Thai partners, has been given the task by the association to handle the shipment.

The rice is being packaged into 50kg packets and at least 14 ships are expected to carry across the entire order.

Malaysia has requested 500,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter which sold 9.5 million tonnes overseas last year.

Bernas's technical team is currently evaluating the quality of this rice as it involves stocks kept for between six months and two years.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had announced that the government would spend at least RM725 million on subsidies for the import of the 500,000 tonnes of rice to maintain the retail price at a level that could lighten consumers' burden in the wake of increases in the prices of goods.

Meanwhile, India, the world's second largest rice producer, will wait until its summer crop is harvested before deciding on Malaysia's request for purchase of rice to build up its grains stockpile.

Basmati rice available

According to a Bernama report from Mumbai, millions of Indian farmers plant the summer crop in June and July when the monsoon sets in and harvest in October - yielding nearly 90 million tonnes during the season.

"We will consider your request after three months but now you can take our Basmati rice. We have a gap of three million tonnes (of normal rice).

"Alhough we are a little tight this year, in the coming season probably the situation may change. Then we can fulfill your request," India's Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told a Malaysian delegation.

India needs 27 million tonnes of rice a year to feed its 1.2 billion people and has banned rice exports to ensure adequate grains at home, especially when a global rice shortage became imminent this year.

India used to export about four million tonnes of non-Basmati rice and one million tonnes of the costly aromatic Basmati grains prior to the ban.

The price of rice, the staple diet of Asia, has spiralled since last year, amid shrinking global supply due to poor harvest, surging demand from rice-importing countries because of population growth and hoarding by traders.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui, who was in Mumbai to attend the Malaysia Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar, had asked if India could supply the grains