The world’s third largest rice exporter shipped 6.11 million tonnes of grain last year.
Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, told Reuters that flooding from typhoons in late September and early October caused some crop damage but had no impact on exports.
“We can still reach 7.5 million tonnes (exports) this year and we can also reach 8 million thanks to the weak baht and India’s export tax,” Chookiat said.
In September, India, the world’s biggest exporter, banned overseas sales of broken rice and imposed a 20% tax on rice exports of varying degrees.
Unless the situation changes dramatically, he expects exports of 8 million tonnes by 2023 as well.
In September, the association raised its export target from 7 million tonnes to 7.5 million tonnes due to increased production and the weak baht. (Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Written by Kanupriya Kapoor; Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman & Simon Cameron-Moore)
