Thailand’s rice exports fall sharply in first quarter
Thailand’s rice exports dropped 30% year-on-year in Q1 to 2.1 million tonnes due to delayed global purchases and India’s export return. Exporters fear missing the 7.5 million-tonne annual target, though U.S. orders are rising after a tariff pause. Officials will meet U.S. counterparts this week to seek lower tariffs, aiming to retain Thailand’s global rice ranking.
Hanoi (VNA) – Thailand’s rice exports fell 30% annually in the first quarter of this year to 2.1 million tonnes, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
Honorary President of the association Chookiat Ophaswongse said that the decline was due to countries delaying buying decisions and India resuming rice exports.
He noted that Thailand’s full-year exports can fall below the forecast of 7.5 million tonnes, but exporters are seeing more US orders after a 90-day pause on the imposition of steep new tariffs.
Chookiat forecasts that exports in the second quarter will be similar to the first three months of the year.
Thailand is the world’s second-largest rice exporter, but can lose that title if tariffs are higher than 10%, Chookiat said.
A delegation led by Thai Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira will meet US officials in Washington this week to seek lower tariffs.
Last year, Thailand shipped 9.94 million tonnes of rice worth 225.65 billion THB (6.7 billion USD), with the US being its third-largest market by volume./.
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Source : Vietnam Plus
