However, for the entire year the export value of food products is expected to reach Bt600 billion, up 7.5 per cent from last year.

National Food Institute executive director Yuthasak Suphasorn yesterday told a seminar on trends in the agriculture and food industries that the institute expected Bt153.47 billion in export value for food products in the third quarter, on par with the same period last year.

He said the third-quarter estimate was the lowest growth rate for this year. The export value of food products recorded growth rates of 14 per cent and 11.4 per cent year on year for the first and second quarters, respectively.

He said the food industry's third-quarter output was expected to record lower growth year on year. In particular, growth for small-and-medium sized enterprises, which rely on the domestic market, will be slower than for large enterprises that export.

Yuthasak said the institute expected this year's export value for food products to increase 7.14 per cent to Bt600 billion, from last year's Bt560 billion. Products with a favourable export trend are rice, canned pineapple and shrimp, while those headed for trouble are chicken, canned tuna and sweet corn.

Thai Frozen Foods Association president Poj Aramwattananont said for the first four months, shrimp exports totalled 90,127 tonnes and were worth Bt21.55 billion, up 4.4 per cent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, the growth rate by volume for the first four months was 12.5 per cent.

He said shrimp exports to the US and Japan had decreased, due mainly to the baht's appreciation. However, the trend of shrimp exports in the third quarter remains favourable, because of high demand in the world market.

Thai Rice Exporters Association president Chukiat Opaswong said his association expected rice exports to increase in the second half of the year, for total exports of 8.5 million tonnes for the entire year.

Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association manager Pornsri Laurujisawat said the trend in boiled-chicken exports was likely to be favourable, especially as a result of the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement.

For the EU market, she said Thailand had received a quota of 160,000 tonnes of boiled chickens, up from 120,000 tonnes last year.

Watcharapong Thongrung

The Nation