Illustrative image (Photo: bangkokpost.com)Honorary President of the Thai RiceExporters Association (TREA) Chookiat Ophaswongse said the ban is likely toprompt Thai rice mills and rice exporters to delay rice purchase orders inorder to evaluate the impact, as India is the world's biggest rice exporter.
India, which accounts for 40% of worldrice exports, on July 20 ordered a halt to its largest rice export category toreduce domestic prices, which have climbed to multi-year highs in recent weeksas erratic weather threatens production.
Rice is a staple food for over 3 billionpeople, and nearly 90% of the water-intensive crop is produced in Asia, wherethe dry El Niño weather pattern is likely to curb supplies.
He said that as a result of India's ban,Thai rice exports are expected to be significantly impacted, particularly withregard to the pricing of different varieties for which purchase contracts arestill pending. Thai rice exporters and domestic tradersmay need to hold off on purchase contracts, as they expect India's move maydrive global prices higher.
It is anticipated that domestic riceprices may need to be adjusted upwards by at least 10%, he said.
The cultivation of Thai riceitself is currently facing problems of drought in several areas, which raises concernsthat the quantity of Thai rice this year might decrease. All parties involvedwill have to expedite finding ways to address these challenges, Chookiat added.
The Bangkok Post cited a CommerceMinistry source as saying that Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit is awareof India's problem and has instructed the private sector and Thai commercialattachés in India to investigate the details of the ban, particularlyconcerning the exemption of Basmati rice.
The Commerce Ministry is to hold a jointmeeting with the private sector next week to prepare a plan to cope with theimpact, if the ban is true, the source said./.
VNA
