Thailand was the world's rice top exporter in the January to March period with 2.78 million tonnes shipped abroad, up 3.1 percent year-on-year, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
A rice warehouse in Bangkok (Source: bangkokpost.com)
Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand was the world's rice top exporter in theJanuary to March period with 2.78 million tonnes shipped abroad, earning 44.09billion THB, up 3.1 percent in volume and 9.5 percent in value year-on-year, accordingto the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
It was followed by India with 2.59 million tonnes (down 20.8 percent)and Pakistan with 1.2 million tonnes (up 38.9 percent).
The association reported rice shipments dropped 9 percent in March to864,938 tonnes, worth 13.78 billion THB, down 7.6 percent from the same monthlast year. The drop was largely due to lower purchase orders on relatively highrice prices.
The National Rice Policy Committee of Thailand, chaired by PrimeMinister Prayut Chan-o-cha, has recently approved a mechanism to build ricebarns in a bid to stabilise rice price and facilitate rice export.
Under the scheme, credit worth about 1.67 billion THB (55 million USD) willbe allocated to support farmers and agricultural institutes to build rice barnsto store rice, delaying sales to stabilise the price.
It targets 10,000 borrowers, while the government will help subsidisethree percent of the annual interest rate.-VNA
President of the Rice Exporters Association of Thailand Charoen Laothammatas expects that the association will be able to export around 9.5 million tons of rice this year.
The Thai Government plans to boost rice exports by negotiating sales directly with other governments with the hope to support around 13 million local farmers – 20 percent of the country’s population.
Rice exports of Thailand in 2018 will be less than the target growth of 9.5 percent due to strong baht and decrease in rice production, said the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA).
The National Rice Policy Committee of Thailand, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, has recently approved a mechanism to build rice barns in a bid to stabilise rice price and facilitate rice export.
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A rice warehouse in Bangkok (Source: bangkokpost.com) 
