Thailand likely to maintain world's rice-exporting champion in 2015

BANGKOK, August 5 (TNA) - Thailand is likely to retain its status as the world's top rice exporter in terms of both volume and value in 2015, after it succuessfully maintained the status in the first half of this year. Deputy Government Spokesman Major General Sansern Kaewkamnerd told journalists on Wednesday the Thai government is confident that Thailand will remain as the top rice exporter this year. The deputy spokesman quoted the Thai Rice Exporters Association as reporting that Thailand was the biggest rice exporter in the first half of this year, shipping about 4.46 million tons of rice to overseas markets, totally worth 72.14 billion baht, followed by India with 4.25 million tons. The deputy spokesman assessed that Thai rice exports in the second half of this year should be better than those in the first half because many countries are worried over drought and are quickly importing rice from Thailand. Besides, the baht depreciation is a positive factor for Thai exports because prices can compete well with those quoted by other rival countries. The deputy spokesman pointed out although Thai exports fell by 4.8 per cent year-on-year in the first half of this year, the drop in Thai exports was smaller than that of many other countries and Thai exporters were capable. According to the deputy spokesman, many Thai export items have been growing, showing that they have growth and marketing potential. The deputy spokesman noted that exports of many Thai industrial products also increased in the first six months of this year, citing, as examples, that Thailand's export values of transformers and parts rose by 10.66 per cent, accumulators by 28.30 per cent, cement by 8.81 per cent, motorcycles and parts by 6.75 per cent, other vehicles and parts by 38.27 per cent and tapioca by 18.10 per cent, with their total export value standing at about 2.05 billion US dollars. (TNA)