Rice exports surpassed 2 million tonnes in the first quarter with a value of 38.1 billion baht, up 29.3% year-on-year.
Ronnarong Phoolpipat, director-general of the Foreign Trade Department, said rice exports rose 18.5% year-on-year, or 321,625 tonnes to 2.06 million tonnes in the first quarter, with Iraq the top importer, accounting for 16.4% of the total, followed by Indonesia (13.1%), the US (8.62%), South Africa (8.24%) and Senegal (5.86%).
The increase was attributed to continued demand for Thai rice in Asian and African countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iraq, South Africa and Senegal. Those buyers have continued to import rice to meet domestic demand and maintain food security, he said.
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry predicts rice production will increase this year based on sufficient water for cultivation. Output from the off-season harvest is scheduled to be released to the market in March and April, which should lead to competitive prices for Thai rice.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said recently demand for Thai rice in the international market remains strong, with exports potentially increasing to 8 million tonnes this year.
A weaker baht, increased stocks for domestic consumption in India and Vietnam, and growing demand in the Middle East are the key factors predicted to help improve the rice export outlook this year.
However, the Foreign Trade Department is sticking to a rice export target of 7.5 million tonnes this year as it wants to monitor the baht before deciding whether to revise the target.
Last year, Thailand shipped 7.69 million tonnes of rice, outperforming the Commerce Ministry's target of 7.5 million tonnes.
Export volume increased by 22% from 6.3 million tonnes shipped in 2021, while the value in baht terms rose by 25.1% to 138 billion baht.
The export value in dollar terms rose by 14.6% from the year before to US$3.97 billion.
Last year, Thailand was ranked the world's second-largest rice exporter after India, which shipped 21.9 million tonnes.
Vietnam was third, with rice exports of 6.31 million tonnes.
Iraq was the largest importer of Thai rice, buying 1.6 million tonnes last year, up 458% from a year before.
South Africa came second, importing 775,000 tonnes (down 2.26%), followed by China at 750,000 tonnes (up 18.8%), the US at 650,000 tonnes (up 13.2%) and Benin at 321,000 tonnes (down 15.3%).
In a related development, the Foreign Trade Department reported 3.29 million tonnes of tapioca products were exported in the first quarter, up 7.17% from the same quarter last year, with a value of 40 billion baht, an increase of 4.81%.
Key export markets included China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the US and South Korea.