Thai rice exports to hit 11mn tonnes in 2014

India had toppled Thailand two years ago to become the world’s top rice exporter as the intervention scheme priced Thai rice out of the export market and as Indian capital Delhi lifted a four-year ban on non-basmati rice sales in 2011 to trim stocks. (Image source: Pascal Thauvin/sxc.hu)

Thailand will export 11mn tonnes of rice by end of this year marking a 67 per cent rise since 2013, according to Thai Rice Exporter Association

The organisation’s president Charoen Laothammathat said that the Southeast Asian nation has already exported 10.07mn tonnes since beginning of January to 2 December this year, compared with same period last year’s of six million tonnes.

He added that the rice prices were returning to normal after the end of the rice-pledging scheme, and exports could rise to 11mn tonnes at end of the year.

This would make Thailand the leader among rice exporting countries after losing the title to India for two consecutive years.

Laothammathat forecasted that India could export only 8.5mn tonnes this year, and Vietnam 6.7mn tonnes.

Thai Rice Exporter Association’s chairman Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, meanwhile, said that Thailand’s rice export in 2015 might be close to this year’s export figure.

But it could hardly push up Thai rice price next year because of the huge rice stocks of 17mn tonnes, which will remain a major factor to deter the price rise.

 

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Thailand to reposition itself as top rice exporter