Thai rice exports get boost from global COVID-19 fear
Tuesday, 17/03/2020 10:49 (GMT+7)
Exports of Thai rice have been on the rise as many countries are stocking up on food supplies due to the rampant COVID-19 outbreak, said President of the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) Chookiat Ophaswongse.
Sacks of rice at a mall in Bangkok, Thailand (Photo: VNA)
The spurt in demand has been a boon for rice producing countries, and also increased the rice price in the global market. The price of Thai rice rose to between 450 USD and 460 USD per tonne from 410 USD per tonne.
In 2019, Thailand shipped 7.58 million tonnes of rice abroad, raking in 131 billion THB (over 4 billion USD), down 32 percent in volume and 25 percent in value compared to the previous year.
This year, the TREA has set a target to export 7.5 million tonnes of rice for 4.2 billion USD, similar to that of the country’s Ministry of Commerce. It is the lowest target in the last seven year after 2013, in which Thailand exported only 6.6 million tonnes of rice./.
CPV/VNA
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