Surge in rice exports puts Thailand on track to becoming 2nd largest global supplier
Thailand’s rice exports in the first six months of this year surged 56.6 per cent to 3.50 million, bringing in 60.93 billion baht in revenue, or 42.9 per cent more year on year.
“This is good news for Thai farmers,” Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Chalermchai Sree-on said on Saturday, adding that this increase in export will help boost the price of rice in the country.
He said Thailand should be able to beat Vietnam and become the world’s second-largest rice exporter if it can ship out more than 7 million tonnes of rice this year.
As per the Thai Rice Exporters Association and Customs Department's data, Thailand exported 764,131 tonnes of rice worth 13.12 billion baht in June alone, up 69.4 per cent and 57.1 per cent, respectively, compared to 450,973 tonnes worth 8.35 billion in May.
The surge in rice exports in June was put down to the sale of 405,963 tonnes of white rice, marking a 208 per cent increase month on month.
The export of steamed and jasmine rice in June came in at 140,225 tonnes and 103,865 tonnes, up 10.8 per cent and 15.2 per cent month on month, respectively.
Chalermchai reckoned that the global rice trade this year will rise up to 46.4 million tonnes, up 100,000 tonnes compared to 2021.
He also reckoned that the global rice yield during the 2021-2022 production cycle would come in at around 505.4 million tonnes, up 1.9 million tonnes compared to the previous production cycle.
He also said that he expects Australia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Europe, Paraguay, Uruguay and Thailand’s rice exports to rise, and rice export from Colombia, Ecuador, India, Iraq, Madagascar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the US and Vietnam to drop.
“We should be able to export at least 7 million to 7.5 million tonnes of rice this year,” he said. “This will make us the world’s second-largest rice exporter instead of Vietnam.”
However, Chalermchai said many factors may affect Thailand’s rice exports in the second half of the year, such as the value of the baht, the productivity of key rice exporters, the Russia-Ukraine war’s impact on production costs and the Covid-19 economic fallout.
Vietnam exported 2.77 million tonnes of rice worth US$1.35 billion in the first five months of this year, up 6.95 per cent and 4.26 per cent year on year, respectively.
