Bangkok: The Department of Foreign Trade has announced a strategic plan to accelerate rice exports in the last five months of 2025, aiming to achieve the annual target of 7.5 million tons. This comes after experiencing a decline in rice exports for the first seven months of the year, which fell by over 25% to 4.3 million tons, valued at 86.412 billion baht. The decline is attributed to increased global production, intense competition, and a strong baht affecting competitiveness.
According to Thai News Agency, Ms. Arada Fuangthong, Director-General of the Department of Foreign Trade, highlighted that the drop in export value is largely due to India's increased rice production, anticipated to exceed 150 million tons, alongside decreased demand from major importers like Indonesia and the Philippines. The volatility of the baht further complicates Thailand's competitive stance in the global market.
In contrast to the overall decline, some markets have shown resilience. Exports to China, the United States, South Africa, the Middle East, and Europe have expanded. Thai jasmine rice, parboiled rice, sticky rice, and brown rice have seen increased export volumes compared to the previous year, although white rice and Thai fragrant rice face stiff price competition from Vietnam, India, and Pakistan.
In the United States, despite a 19% reciprocal tariff imposed on August 1st, Thai Hom Mali rice remains competitive. Vietnamese Hom Mali rice faces a higher tariff of 20%, and US imports of Thai rice rose by 4.26% in the first seven months. The export volume to the US is expected to align with last year's figure of approximately 800,000 tons, predominantly jasmine rice.
The Philippines, where Thailand has exported 160,000 tons of rice this year, remains impacted by a temporary 60-day rice import suspension, adding pressure to the market dynamics.
The Director-General emphasized the importance of proactive strategies to maintain Thailand's trade competitiveness amidst a challenging global rice market. Discussions with the private sector and the Thai Rice Exporters Association have led to a plan to boost export volumes in the final five months of the year. Key measures include accelerating government-to-government rice trading agreements with China, expanding markets for white and parboiled rice to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, negotiating new market openings with Japan, and promoting Thai rice at international trade fairs.
Ms. Fuangthong remains optimistic that with these strategies, Thailand will stimulate orders and reinforce confidence in the quality of Thai rice, crucial elements for achieving the full-year export targets.