Thailand: Government seen losing millions at jasmine rice auction.

(From Thai Press Reports)

Section: General News - The government will lose millions of baht from last week's auction for its huge stocks of jasmine rice, even though some bidders were persuaded in negotiations to increase their offers, although the loss had not yet been finally calculated it was expected, said Rachane Potjanasuntorn, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, The Nation reports.

"We believe that we will definitely lose from the auction because of the costs of stockpiling the remaining rice," he said.

The department announced 15 winners in the auction May 22. It was the first time bidders were allowed to quote prices in baht, …