Rice is for sale at a market in Bangkok (Photo: AFP/VNA)Thailand is expected to export 11 million tonnes of rice this year, much higher than the figure of 9.5 million tonnes earlier forecast by the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA), said a government official on August 13.
Adul Chotinisakorn, Director General of the Department of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce, said around 6.7 million tonnes of rice were exported in the first seven month of 2018, raking in 116.28 billion baht (about 3.42 billion USD), up 9.8 percent as compared to the same period last year.
Thailand’s rice exports have increased due to rising demands in the world market, including Indonesia which has accounted for a 679 percent increase in the purchase orders of the Thai rice, Malaysia which has accounted for a 53 percent increase and the Philippines which has marked a 25 percent increase.
Adul said China is scheduled to negotiate with Thailand for the purchase of 1 million tonnes of rice from this country by the end of this month. That is a second batch of 1 million tonnes of Thai rice, as much in volume as the first batch, which China has planned to buy.
According to the TREA, the country’s rice exports for the rest of this year are forecast to remain on an uptrend.
However, many rice exporters have worried that high prices of Hom Mali rice would encourage Thai farmers to grow more this paddy variety, resulting in a rise in supply and therefore putting pressure on prices on the market./.