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.