Thai rice exports to face stiffer competition from India

Thailand’s rice exports are expected to face stiffer competition as India has removed 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 12.2 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 US, with 2.5 million tonnes, up 56.3%.

The largest importer of Thai rice this year was Indonesia, with about 1 million tonnes, followed by Iraq 907,715 tonnes, the US 609,430 tonnes, South Africa 580,288 tonnes, and the Philippines 399,493 tonnes.

Thai rice exports in the first nine months were worth about THB172 billion ($5.04 billion), up 45.8% from last year’s THB117.9 billion.

Exports of white and Hom Mali fragrant rice remained strong, with 507,795 tonnes in September, mainly to Iraq, the Philippines, Togo, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique, Benin and Japan, but shipments of parboiled dropped 30% compared to the same period last year.