Thailand to maintain strong rice exports in 2002: FAO
Thailand to maintain strong rice exports in 2002: FAO
Dow Jones, Bangkok
Thailand will enjoy another rice "export bonanza" next year,
thanks to expected increased demand from buyers but reduced
competition from regional rival exporters, the United Nation's
Food and Agriculture Organization said this week.
According to the FAO's Rice Market Monitor released this week,
Thai rice exporters are expected to do better next year,
benefiting from a surge in demand from buyers like Indonesia,
Iran and China and the reduced ability of other major exporting
nations - including Vietnam, China and Pakistan - to meet this
increase.
This year, Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, is
forecast to ship 7.2 million metric tons of milled rice, the FAO
said, adding that the figure has been revised upward from the
record 6.8 million tons estimated by the FAO in October.
Thailand exported 6.6 million tons of rice in 2000.
Thailand's paddy output this year is estimated at 24.2 million
tons, the FAO said.
The disappointing 2001 paddy season is expected to lead to an
increase in Indonesia's rice imports to 2 million tons in 2002
against 1.4 million tons estimated this year, the FAO said.
The FAO forecast Iran to import 1.1 million tons of rice in
2002, 100,000 tons more than its estimated purchase this year, as
a result of three successive years of drought affecting the
country's domestic production. However, torrential rains and
flooding in August this year also damaged rice crops in the
important paddy region of Mazandaran in the country's northeast,
FAO said.
As a result of an estimated fall in inventories in the main
importing nations, a recovery in international rice prices is
expected next year after having declined over the past 12 months,
reaching their lowest levels in 14 years, mainly due to the
arrival of freshly harvested crops in the market, the FAO said.
The favorable response of China, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and
Vietnam to Thailand's proposal for an exporter alliance is also
expected to shore up prices, FAO said.
The five countries are considering cooperating to avoid price
undercutting by each country, in order to help boost prices.