Thai rice exports expected to meet official target in 2012

BANGKOK, July 28 (TNA) - Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom has assessed that Thai rice exports should reach the government's target of 8-9 million tonnes this year. Speaking during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's weekly broadcast programme Saturday, Boonsong acknowledged that Thailand's total rice export volume in the first half of this year, at some 3.8 million tonnes, was comparable to that of major rival countries, namely India and Vietnam. Boonsong foresaw that total Thai rice export should, therefore, reach the official target by the end of this year, saying that the country's grain shipments to overseas markets via government-to-government (G-to-G) contracts alone are believed to exceed four million tonnes in the second half of 2012. Boonsong revealed that the Thai government now focuses on selling quality grains and other farm produce to raise income of local farmers and their living conditions, rather than emphasizing on always maintaining the country as the world's top rice exporter, although he is confident that Thailand's long-standing status as the world's No. 1 rice exporter will be maintained this year. According to the commerce minister, he has instructed his ministry's Department of Foreign Trade and Public Warehouse Organization (PWO) to classify Thai rice in accordance with its quality to meet varied demand of importing markets and to boost confidence in Thai grains globally, with the grading of Thai grains expected to be complete and to be publicly announced over the next couple of months. The commerce minister noted that Thailand is joining hands with other rice exporting countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely Vietnam and Cambodia, to establish a regional rice trade alliance to sell rice based on agreed prices for the sake of better living standards of regional farmers, as the cooperation is believed to help boost regional rice prices on the world market. (TNA)