Thai rice exports are expected to face stiffer competition as India has removes export restrictions and taxes, allowing unlimited rice exports, according to Charoen Laothammatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
Even with the restrictions in place, he said that India was the world’s largest rice exporter during the first nine months of this year, shipping a record 12.20 million tonnes, down 19.6% year-on-year, while Thailand remained in second place, with 7.45 million tonnes, an increase of 22% year-on-year. Vietnam came third, with 6.96 million tonnes, up 8.4%, followed by Pakistan, with 4.45 million tonnes, up 74.4% and the United States, with 2.5 million tonnes, up 56.3%.
The largest importer of Thai rice this year has been Indonesia, with about one million tonnes, followed by Iraq’s 907,715 tonnes, the United States’ 609,430 tonnes, South Africa’s 580,288 tonnes and the Philippines’ 399,493 tonnes.
Thai rice exports for the first nine months of this year are estimated to be worth about 172 billion baht, up 45.8% compared to last year’s t 117.9 billion baht.
Exports of white and Hom Mali fragrant rice remain strong, with 507,795 tonnes being exported in September, mainly to Iraq, the Philippines, Togo, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Benin and Japan, but exports of parboiled dropped 30% compared to the same period last year.
The price of 5% Thai white rice as of October 30th is quoted at US$507/tonne, compared to Vietnam’s US$524-528, India’s US$444-448 and Pakistan’s US$461-465.
The price of Thai parboiled rice is quoted at US$522/tonne, compared to India’s US$439-443 and Pakistan’s US$493-497.
