Thai food exports set to leap by 20 per cent

Yuthasak Suphasorn, director of the National Food Institute, said the institute as well as the Federation of Thai Industries and the Board of Trade had predicted that export volumes would hit 32 million tonnes, a 10.8-per-cent growth from last year.

 In the first half, export value reached Bt379.86 billion, up 28.1 per cent, while volumes reached 16.3 million tonnes, an increase of 8.3 per cent.

Of the total, Bt121 billion was generated by agricultural products. The value represented an 84.2-per-cent increase from the same period last year, driven mainly by historic rice prices in the first half.

Yuthasak noted that second-half growth rate would slow down slightly due to lower demand and the global economic slowdown. The export value in the second half is expected to be Bt367.3 billion, up 14.5 per cent from the same period last year.

The drop will be seen particularly in the export of beverage products. The volume in the second half is expected to drop 19.6 per cent from the same period last year to 197,708 tonnes due to the conflict over Preah Vihear Temple.

"About 30 per cent to 40 per cent of our beverage exports have been sent to Cambodia; for example, beer, soft drinks, and fruit juice," Yutthasak said. However, he believes that exports will shrink only for the short term.

He also plans to propose a medium-term food strategy to Industry Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan, including turning Thailand into the world's halal food centre, which will create additional income of Bt20 billion to Bt30 billion per year.

The institute also plans regional food distribution centres to supply raw materials to about 20,000 Thai restaurants around the world. This should boost food sales from Bt5 billion to Bt10 billion soon.