BANGKOK: Thailand has exported about 4.71 million tonnes of rice worth 74.9 billion baht ($2.1 billion) since January, an 11.42 percent increase from the same period last year, the commerce minister said on Thursday. The government expects exports of Asia’s staple food to rise in the second half of the year on strong demand from the Philippines and Indonesia, said Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn. Thailand should easily meet its annual export target of 9.5 million tonnes, she said. Strong demand is also helping Thailand to offload millions of tonnes in stockpiles built up under the generous subsidy scheme of the government overthrown by the military in May 2014.
The government sold 1.99 million tonnes from the 10 million-tonne stockpile last week. The junta has sold more than 5 million tonnes of rice through auctions since taking power. Most of the rice exported in the first half was white rice and jasmine rice, to buyers in Africa, Asia, and America, Apiradi said. Government-to-government deals would help exports in the second half, she said.
The commerce ministry also expects to gradually deliver 1 million tonnes of rice to China in August, as part of a bilateral agreement. Thailand sold 1.99 million tonnes of rice from state stockpiles in its fourth auction this year as part of a bid to offload stocks built up during a rice-buying scheme under the previous administration. The rice scheme was a major factor in the downfall of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawtra. The scheme cost the country billions of dollars and critics said it was corrupt. Yingluck is facing a criminal case in court for negligence involving the scheme. Her supporters say the case is politically motivated.
