Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai will order the Foreign Trade Department to cancel its latest auction of 500,000 tonnes of rice since the prices quoted were way below the market level even after negotiations to get a better deal, a source said yesterday. "The ministry will consider opening bidding again within a couple of months before the second crop deluges the market in April," the source said.The decision to scrap the bidding will be proposed to the National Rice Policy Committee meeting today.

  However, the ministry will proceed with releasing 300,000 tonnes of government rice on the Agriculture Futures Exchange of Thailand this month.

The ministry reported that most bidders had raised their offers by only Bt100-Bt300 a tonne, which was still much lower than the prevailing market price.

To arrest the falling paddy price in the domestic market, the ministry will today ask for the committee's approval to directly purchase rice from farmers at the reference price, the source said.

If the proposal is approved, the ministry will begin purchasing from farmers tomorrow.

This will be an urgent measure after millers started pressuring farmers to sell them cheap rice in some areas, she said.

At the auction on Monday for 150,000 tonnes of Pathum Thani rice and 350,000 tonnes of 5-per-cent white rice, 11 companies joined the bidding.

The average offer for the former was Bt15,500-Bt18,500 a tonne, while the market price is Bt23,000-Bt24,000.

The price offered for 5-per-cent white rice was Bt11,665-Bt14,950, against the market price of Bt15,000-15,500.

Porntiva said after the meeting late yesterday that she could not comment on what was going on regarding the process.