Illustrative photo (Source: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – Rice export prices in Thailand hit a two-year high as of May 23 as the domestic supply decreased due to prolonged droughts.
The price of 5 percent broken rice increased to 424 USD per tonne from the previous price of 397 USD. While the price for glutinous rice was quoted at 900 USD per tonne, up from 867 USD.
At the third round of rice auctions in 2016, recently held by the Ministry of Commerce, 48 traders proposed to purchase 1.17 million tonnes of rice from 118 warehouses.
The auction is part of a plan to sell all 11.4 million tonnes of rice in stockpile with the aim to generate 100 billion THB (2.84 billion USD).
The fourth auction is expected to be organised in June.
The commerce ministry forecasts that rice output in 2016 would fall 1.7 percent compared to last year, however, export of the grain will still reach 9.5 million tonnes as in 2015.
Thailand is currently the world’s second largest rice exporter after India. In the past two decades, the country has exported around 10 million tonnes of rice each year.-VNA
