Thailand Sets Rice Export Target of 9 Million Tons for 2010

The Department of Foreign Trade has set the rice export target for 2010 at nine million tons, a value of approximately 5.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The director-general of the Department of Foreign Trade, or DFT, Wichak Wisetnoi said his department has set the rice export target for 2010 at 9 million tons, which is worth about 5 to 5.2 billion U.S. dollars.

Last year, Thailand exported 8.57 million tons of rice, valued at five billion dollars.

Wichak expects rice prices to rise by another 20 to 30 percent. He said the average rice price at the end of 2009 was 584 dollars per ton.

According to the DFT director-general, Africa is the largest market, accounting for 55 percent of total rice exports from Thailand, followed by Asia, at 19 percent, the Middle East, with 11 percent, Europe, buying 7 percent, North America and Latin America combined import 6 percent of Thailand's total rice exports and Oceania, 2 percent.

The worldwide rice supply in 2010 is projected to be 432 million tons while the global consumption is estimated to increase by 0.31 percent to 436.84 million tons.

As for Thailand, 31.48 million tons of rice is expected to hit the local market this year. Of the total production, 23.4 million tons will be from in-season paddies and 8.24 million tons will come from off-season paddies.

Wichak observed that the global rice trade is expected to increase by 5.8 percent, or 30.35 million tons, due to the fact that many countries have increased their rice imports as a result of natural disasters and rising consumption.