Vietnam is forecast to overtake Thailand to become the world’s leading rice
exporter before 2015 as Thai rice is more expensive to produce and the
Vietnamese dong has become weaker , according to the Thai Rice Exporters
Association.
Bloomberg quoted Chookiat Ophaswongse, an adviser and the association’s former president, as saying that Thailand ’s rice exports could drop to 8 million tonnes this year.
In 2009, Thailand exported 8.6 million tonnes of rice while Vietnam exported only 6 million tonnes.
The average gap between the price of comparable varieties of Vietnamese and Thai rice has widened. According to figures from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, the price of Thailand ’s 5 percent broken-grain rice was 68 USD higher than Vietnam ’s in 2008 and the difference in price rose to 123 USD in 2009.
Vietnam ’s weaker currency has also contributed to the country rising to top position in the global rice market.
The value of the Vietnamese dong has also fallen since 2008, resulting in cheaper Vietnamese rice exports compared to the previous two years. In contrast, the value of Thailand ’s baht increased from 33.53 baht per USD to 32.38 baht per USD during the same period.
Chookiat also said that labour, land and logistics costs in Vietnam are lower than in Thailand .
According to the International Rice Research Institute, Thailand overtook the US as the world’s biggest rice exporter in 1980. Vietnamese exports, which at the time were negligible, passed 1 million tonnes in 1988, after the government introduced market- oriented policies to develop the agricultural sector.
(CPV/VNA)
