"Thai rice"

Millers are buying paddy rice at much cheaper prices amid hardships faced by farmers after exports witnessed a drop because of price undercutting and strong competition from other countries, experts said.

The United Arab Emirates is interested in purchasing Thai rice, Vice Commerce Minister Sansern Samalapa said on Wednesday.

A shipment of 500 tones of broken sticky rice will leave Thailand for Chongqing in China on Wednesday via the new Laos-China railway system, Alongkorn Polabutr, adviser to the agriculture and cooperatives minister, said on Saturday.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association has voiced concerns about an oversupply of jasmine rice in local markets now that many orders from the US and Europe have been cancelled due to high freight costs.

The export of rice returned to positive numbers for three consecutive months since June this year thanks to higher production volume and weak baht. The 6-million-tonne export target should be achieved in 2021, the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) said on Thursday.

A drop in prices and a bigger, better harvest is expected to boost the export of Thai rice to Malaysia, the Department of Foreign Trade said this week.

Sticky rice have been  smuggled into the country, but ironically it has helped curb soaring price, said Chukiat Opaswong, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association has forecast that the Jasmine rice price will increase to US$1,300 per tonne from $1,250 per tonne, thanks to strong demand in the global market, said president Charoen Laothammatas after celebrations for the association’s 100th annivesary yesterday.

Thailand was the top rice exporter in the world during the first four months of this year, shipping out 3.31 million tonnes of the grain to overtake rivals such as India, Vietnam and Pakistan.

Each wet season, Thai farmers begin cultivating their annual crop anticipating both natural and market uncertainties. For these farmers, nothing can be taken for granted.