A rice field in Thailand (Photo: www.bangkokpost.com)Keerati Rushchano, director-general of the Foreign TradeDepartment was quoted by local media as saying that rice exports startedimproving since June, boosted by higher purchases from China, the Philippines,Cameroon, Malaysia, Mozambique and Singapore.
Thailand's rice exports are expected to continually increasein the last quarter of this year with more than 700,000 tonnes per month, he said.
In the first eight months of this year, Thailand's riceexports totalled 3.18 million tonnes, down 14 percent from the same period oflast year, with export value of 58.68 billion THB (1.75 billion USD), down by23.3 percent year-on-year. Rice exports inSeptember rose 124.87 percent to 877,555 tonnes, he noted.
Keerati said that the country is on track to export6 million tonnes of rice this year as targeted, citing driversincluding the weaker baht, declining global COVID-19 cases and the relaxationof lockdown measures worldwide.
Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice ExportersAssociation, said the weaker baht, which has depreciated 13 percent against thedollar this year, has resulted in lower export prices of Thai rice, making itmore competitive against rival exporters.
He said Thai rice production is expected to increase in the2021/2022 harvest season, with milled rice production estimated at 20 milliontonnes, up from 17 million tonnes in the 2020/2021 season.
In 2019, Thailand shipped abroad 7.58 million tonnes of ricefor 131 billion THB, down 32 percent in volume and 25 percent in value overthe previous year. In 2020, the Southeast Asian country exported only 5.7million tonnes of rice./.
VNA
