According to the international Grains Council, global rice trade in the current year is projected to rise marginally by 1% to reach 29.6 million MT up from an estimated 29.3 million MT currently.

Thailand is expected to remain well positioned to meet the projected increase in import demand in 2008 on account of its large government rice stocks.

Significant rise in rice imports is also expected because of purchases by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, the US, Brazil and Russia.