Farmers harvest rice on a field in Nakhon Pathom province of Thailand (Photo: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s rice exports are forecast at 8 – 8.1 million tonnes in 2019, compared to the target of 9 million tonnes.
Honorary President of the Thai Rice Exporters Association Chookiat Ophaswongse said that the projection is 3.5 million tonnes lower than last year’s export volume.
He said many local exporters have suffered losses due to the strong baht but have nonetheless continued to trade to safeguard their market share.
Rice exports during the first nine months totalled 5.9 million tonnes.
Earlier, the association revised its target for annual exports down to 9 million tonnes from 9.5 million tonnes.
In 2018, Thailand shipped 11.09 million tonnes of rice abroad, down from the 11.67 million tonnes in the previous year, but the export value still rose 8.3 percent to 5.61 billion USD.
Rice export prices averaged 507 USD per tonne in 2018, up 14.1 percent year on year./.
VNA
