Thai rice exports in the first two months of 2018 rose 10% year-on-year by volume to 1.91 million tonnes and 16.1% in baht value to 30.32 billion baht but orders are falling due to the strong baht.
In February, Thailand exported 950,761 tonnes of rice worth 14.92 billion baht. The volume declined by 1.2% and the value went down by 3.1% month-on-month because of the decreasing export of Hom Mali fragrant rice and parboiled rice, Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said Friday.
Orders for both kinds of rice dropped because their prices were relatively high due to the strong baht and more rice harvests in Southeast Asian countries, he said.
The exporters' association predicted that Thailand would export 850,000 tonnes of rice in March.
According to Mr Charoen, the export of white rice to Asian and African markets will continue at the same pace and major buyers will include Benin, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mozambique.
The exports of Hom Mali and parboiled rice are likely to fall from last month because buyers earlier imported considerable rice and Thai rice is relatively expensive. Some buyers are ordering quality rice from competitors like Cambodia and Vietnam.
Thailand quoted its Hom Mali rice at US$1,144 per tonne while Cambodia set the price at $900 and Vietnam at $650.