BANGKOK, 29 December 2013 The Thai Rice Exporters Association has projected that the Thai rice exports in 2013 will stay between 6.5-6.6 million tons with an increase in December, following lower rice prices in the global market.
600,000-650,000 tons of Thai rice would be exported in December this year increasing from the previous month, said the association. Apart from the falling rice prices in the global market, continuously higher jasmine rice imports by the U.S., China and Hong Kong during this long holiday was another factor in the rice export increase in December.
However, Thai rice exports in November dropped by 41% compared to October while jasmine rice exports increased by 32%. From January to November, Thailand exported 5.9 million tons of rice worth 120.8 billion baht, decreasing by 5.4% in quantity and 8.8% in value compared to the same period last year.
Thailand’s top five rice importers include Benin, Iraq, South Africa, the U.S. and Ivory Coast.
As of 18 December 2013, Thailand has sold 5%-white rice at 450 U.S. dollars/ton, higher than its major competitors such as Vietnam and India by approximately 30 U.S. dollars/ton.
