BANGKOK, 17 December 2014 – Organizations within the agriculture and food industries have expressed their confidence in Thailand’s food exports breaking the 1 trillion baht threshold by the end of the year, after the the export value was found to have grown 11.5% over the first ten months of the year.
Mr. Phetchara Chinnabut, director of the National Food Institute (NFI), expressed the belief during a joint press conference held on Tuesday by the NFI, the Board of Trade of Thailand and the Federation of Thai Industries. The agencies have found that food exports during the first 10 months increased to 851.2 billion baht. Based on the figure, the agencies projected that the entire year’s export value would reach 1.01 trillion baht. This would be a 15.4% expansion from the previous year’s value; it would also the first time that Thailand has exported as much as a trillion baht in food.
Mr. Phetchara said a large expansion in food exports is expected over the final quarter of the year, as importers stock up on processed food items for resale during the winter and the year-end holiday seasons. The depreciation of the baht is also expected to be a boon to exports during the said period.
Sales value of most export food items have increased in the past ten months save for sugar and canned pineapples, which have declined.
Mr. Phetchara added that export destinations with good growth potential in 2015 included China, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.
