Comprehensive Thai media reported on September 2 that the Thai rice exporters association is increasingly worried about the prospect of rice export, because the export volume increases and the export freight is expensive.
Thai rice exporters association said that due to the shortage of workers and the logistics and transportation problems after the government took anti epidemic measures, rice exports stalled.
Rice export freight is still prohibitively high, especially for routes to New York and Los Angeles. The freight per container has increased from $3000-4000 before the epidemic to $18500 and $15000 respectively.
At present, the export price of Thai rice is US $700 per ton, lower than US $800-900 per ton at the beginning of this year.
Thailand’s rice production, including fragrant rice, is expected to return to normal this year, as it has decreased by about 20% in the past two years due to widespread drought.
This year, Thailand’s fragrant rice production is expected to remain at 9 million tons of rice, or about 5 million tons of crushed fragrant rice. Half of the output is planned for domestic consumption and the rest for export.
Affected by logistics, expensive freight, high output and oversupply, it is estimated that the export of fragrant rice may decline this year. This will affect the price of domestic fragrant rice.
The price of Thai fragrant rice has decreased from 14500 baht per ton in January 2020 to 11500 baht per ton in December last year. The current price is 8600-11500 baht per ton.
If the price of fragrant rice in Thailand falls, the government will help farmers through the preferential income guarantee scheme.
In 2020, Thailand exported 1.33 million tons of fragrant rice and 42.5 billion baht, a year-on-year decrease of 4.72% and 6.70% respectively.
From January to July 2021, the export volume of Thai fragrant rice decreased by 26.7%, 661750 tons, and the value decreased by 37.8% over the same period last year to USD 581 million.
The United States is the largest importer of Thai fragrant rice, with 224181 tons, a decrease of 27.5% over last year, 36093 tons to China, a decrease of 19.8%, 27408 tons to Singapore, a decrease of 38.7%, and 30441 tons to Canada, a decrease of 43.2%; Exports to France were 15324 tons, down 28%, and exports to Australia were 14921 tons, down 42.7%.
Source: China Agricultural Information Network
Post time: Sep-09-2021