Bangkok, Thailand – Helped by higher demand from the Middle East and weak baht currency, Thailand’s rice exports for January were at 805,519 tonnes, up 75.2 percent from a year earlier, the Commerce Ministry, quoted by Reuters, said on Monday.
Head of the ministry’s foreign trade department Ronnarong Phoolpipat told a press conference that the value of rice exports rose 78.76 percent to 14.28 billion baht ($406.72 million) in January year-on-year.
“Rice exports in January increased by a shocking rate,” he said.
He attributed the rise in exports mainly to the orders from the Middle East where the countries have’ high purchasing power and low agricultural output.
The region, according to Ronnarong, was the only growing market for Thai rice in the last year, taking 2.02 million tonnes of rice, or 26 percent of total rice shipments.
Thailand is the world’s third-largest rice exporter after India and Vietnam.
Thailand exported 7.69 million tonnes of rice in 2022, up 22.1 percent from a year earlier, beating a target of 7.5 million tonnes, with top markets being Iraq, South Africa, China and the United States.
