Thailand's rice exports likely to meet 11m ton-target in 2018

BANGKOK, November 29 (TNA) - The Ministry of Commerce says it is now likely that Thailand's rice exports should meet the official target of 11 million tons totally in 2018. Adul Chotinisakorn, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Foreign Trade, told journalists of the update on November 28, following new purchase orders of about 324,000 tons of Thai rice placed by China and the Philippines. Adul stated that his department has concluded this month two government-to-government (G-to-G) contracts on rice trade of 180,000 tons totally with Beijing and Manina, 100,000 tons with China's government run-COFCO Corporation (COFCO) and the rest with the Philippines' government run-National Food Authority (NFA). According to the senior official, all the 180,000 tons of the G-to-G rice contracts are obliged for the delivery by the Thai side by the end of this year, including the 5 per cent white rice for China and the 25 per cent white rice for the Philippines, all of which will be from the new harvest season in Thailand. Besides, two private Thai rice exporters have successfully won a recent bidding of rice trade, organized by the Philippine government run- NFA, for another 144,000 tons of the 25 per cent Thai white rice oblighed to be delivered by the end of this year or by January 2019. As purchase orders of Thai rice have also been lately received from other rice importing economies, namely those from Africa, the senior Thai official projected that the country's rice exports should meet his ministry's target of about 11 million tons in 2018 as Thailand's shipments of rice to foreign markets have already reached 9.89 million tons so far this year, totally worth about 161.38 billion baht, a 4.52 per cent year-on-year increase. The senior official acknowledged that the new large lots of Thai rice exports, based on the short-term delivery contracts, should also keep the paddy prices, earned by Thai farmers, stable at a satisfactory level, while accelerating the release of newly-harvested Thai grains from domestic stocks. (TNA)