BANGKOK, Feb 3 — The Thai Rice Exporters Association is confident that Thailand will retain its title as world rice export champion for the second consecutive year with an export volume of 10 million tonnes this year.
Association president Chareon Laothamatas said rice exports were historically high at 10,969,360 tonness last year, rising by 65.9 per cent from 2013.
The export value stood at Bt174.85 billion, increasing by 30.6 per cent.
This year the association expects the rice export volume to drop to 10 million tons, yet the country should remain as the export champion.
He quoted the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as predicting that Thai rice exports will be the biggest in the world this year with 11.3 million tons, followed by 8.7 million tons from India, 6.7 million tons from Vietnam, 3.9 million tons from Pakistan and 3.4 million tons from the US.
The USDA expects Thailand will actively export its rice due to its high rice stockpiles of over 17 million tons.
However, Mr Charoen says his association views that the Thai government can sell only up to 3 million tons from its stockpiles this year because of limited eorldwide demand. Excessive sales would otherwise affect local rice prices and meanwhile major rice exporters like Vietnam and India still have huge amounts of rice and are exporting their produce.
The association predicts global rice prices will decline as Thailand is actively marketing its rice and the baht is appreciating. It also forecasts that the yield of second crop rice in Thailand should drop by 30 per cent to 6-7 million tons this year due to dry weather. Meanwhile, many countries importing Thai rice have weaker purchasing power due to lower oil prices.
The association expects the global rice trade to amount to 42.6 million tons this year, equal to that recorded last year.
China will remain as the biggest importer of Thai rice by ordering 4.3 million tons, followed by Nigeria with 3.5 million tons, the Philippines and Iran with 1.7 million tons each and Iraq with 1.5 million tons. (MCOT online news)
