Thailand Sees U.S. Drought Lifting Rice as Stockpiles Grow
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Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter, is content to sit on a record stockpile as the worst U.S. drought in half a century may boost prices, according to Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom.
The country has room to store a further 20 million metric tons of unmilled rice, building on a stockpile of milled grain that the U.S. Department of Agriculture expects will climb to 12.1 million tons in 2012-2013. Thailand plans to spend a further 260 billion baht ($8.3 billion) in extending a policy to buy rice from farmers at above-market rates to boost incomes.