Thailand's Commerce Ministry predicts that Thailand will export 8.5-9 million tonnes of rice next year and that the country should need value-added strategies to cope with price fluctuation.
Thai Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai said her ministry expected Thailand to export 8.5 - 9 million tonnes of rice in 2011 and the figure would be close to the rice export amount of 8.5 million tonnes this year.
Although floods damaged paddy fields in many areas of the country, she said, they should not affect the overall rice export of Thailand because farmers grow rice for several rounds per year and should be able to make up for previously damaged rice.
Mrs Porntiva added that the prices of rice should remain high and also fluctuate substantially next year. Therefore, the Commerce Ministry will seriously improve the quality of Thai rice to cope with price fluctuations as the costs of rice production in Thailand are relatively high compared with the costs of competitors. Consumers' confidence in the quality of Thai rice should retain Thailand's status as the worlds supplier of quality agricultural products and foods.
According to Porntiva, the Commerce Ministry will also seriously seek support from other Southeast Asian nations to promote Thailands status as a rice trade hub of the region because Thailand has expertise in rice marketing and the cooperation in the region should also solve price wars among Southeast Asian countries.
