Thailand Export Volume Likely To Go Down This Year

Thailand is most likely to witness some decline in its rice export volume this year despite supply tightness in other exporting countries, as sharply depleted state reserves and an expected decline in imports by Indonesia and the Philippines could lead to lesser shipments.

However, regardless of the quantity exported this year, the country could potentially see a rise in export earnings with the rice being shipped at substantially higher prices than in previous years.

Last year, Thailand exported 9.5 million MT of rice, worth $3.55 billion, higher than it's initial target of 8.5 million MT, as the country successfully filled the space vacated by other major suppliers such as Vietnam and India which banned exports to cool  domestic prices.