Thai steamed rice export generates billions of dollars annually

According to the report of Thailand’s “World News” on February 27th, Thai steamed rice is widely popular in the international market, and it creates billions of dollars of export revenue for Thailand every year. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is preparing to import rice from neighboring countries to produce steamed rice, and will gradually develop Asian steamed rice market in the future.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives Niva stated that at present, Thai rice exports average between 8 and 10 million tons, while steamed rice exports only between about 7,000 and 1 million tons. Although the export of steamed rice in Thailand declined in 2010, the annual revenue generated from steamed rice exports for Thailand still reaches several billion baht. At present, the main markets for Thai steamed rice exports are in Africa and the Middle East.

Of the steamed rice exported from Thailand every year, 200,000 tons are of good quality and worth 1.2 billion baht. The current major competitors are the United States and Vietnam. However, steamed rice in Thailand is more obvious than Vietnam, and although Cambodia also emphasizes exporting steamed rice, it is not enough to impact the export of steamed rice in Thailand in terms of quality and scale.

Niwa believes that after the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, Thailand will increase imports of rice from neighboring countries to ensure Thai steamed rice production, processing and export needs. It is estimated that with the gradual opening of the steamed rice market, the average export volume of steamed rice in Thailand will not be less than 500,000 tons.