Thai rice exports decreasing due to stiff price competition, association chief warns

[zaZa9]

“To tackle this, we need to maybe recheck the whole rice export system,” Kriangsak said. “However, to do this by looking back at the market tendency, quantity, and price direction, the main problem is inevitably the production cost”.

 

Kriangsak said that to deal with the current market situation, the quantity of rice per rai should be increased to meet market demand, "

 

HUH ?

One day , just ONE DAY dear lord , let me read something a Thai authority says that makes sense ...

 

[Beggar]

"New jasmine rice in the beginning of the season will be earmarked for export, and the old rice will be consumed in Thailand, he added." 

 

So nice that we are allowed to eat the old rice. But since I googled rice and arsenic my love for rice disappeared completely. Now I avoid to eat rice whenever I can.

[justin case]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

“Milling entrepreneurs are operating their business in a much weaker state than before,”

I guess they mean, LESS PROFITS for doing their job, milling rice...

 

like in the taksin corruption 

 

did I hear they should spend money, more than on the people who produce it ?

 

sticky fingers anyone ?

 

land of sticky rice and sticky fingers ????

[Stevemercer]

The same association put out a media release two weeks ago saying the same thing, but blaming the high Baht.

 

I guess the Government must have told them to do a new media release blaming everyone else!

[djayz]

16 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

Some may say it's called "pricing yourselves out of the market".

 

16 hours ago, petermik said:

"our competitors have chosen to offer lower prices to attract buyers" should read "due to the strength of the baht our rice is too expensive"

And then blame it on the "production costs". Now the poor idiots who grow the crops are going to be squeezed even more. 

[Enoon]

 

Also Nigerian market for imported Thai rice has virtually disappeared, after large increase in import duties and closure of borders in August.

 

About half of Thailands expected loss in exports would have been going there (one way or another).

 

Nigeria's border crisis fuelled by rice - BBC News

 

 

 

 

[finnomick1]

16 hours ago, Fred white said:

If exports are down why increase production and why worry about the mills it's the farmer that has the risks

Within the last 12 months the PM said rice farmers should diversify and grow less rice. I wish they'd make their minds up but knee-jerk reaction seems a speciality in Thailand.

[30la]

You really want to export your rice and other products, you have to change monetary policy radically!
If you continue at this rate your problems will increase dramatically!
Oops ... I forgot that export and tourism are second order things, first of all the rich and the multinationals ... then ... ???
Good luck!

[Torrens54]

PLOBLEM SOLVED.....Introduce a “RICE PRICE SUBSIDY SCHEME.”

 

oh,...what’s that you say ?  “Been done before” ???

[legend49]

Kriangsak said that to deal with the current market situation, the quantity of rice per rai should be increased to meet market demand, while new markets should be found for all kinds of rice.

 

What kind of business decision is this, cant sell current stock as its too costly compared  with India, Vietnam and Indonesia , so now he wants to grow more unsaleable rice???

 

It is also questionable whether the government’s policy of providing support only to the production sector including rice farmers is sufficient enough to help the entire rice trading system. 

 

Bit like Yinlucks populist policy on rice; government pays everybody, another Thai airline scene emerging.

[loong]

2 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Please give some examples of this. Is there a pensioner visa attraction war going on that I am not aware of? No country wants or needs old poor foreign blokes any more. They are not a commodity in any sense of the word. Even in the home country they are a non productive liability.

I don't see that there is any sort of pensioner attraction war going on.

But foreign pensioners are still valuable to a degree.

Even the pensioners at the lower end of the scale contribute more to the economy than the average Thai on less than 10K Baht per month. Not only that, they take nothing out.

[LivinLOS]

Perhaps he could point out this drastic reduction in global rice pricing ?? 

[FarFlungFalang]

4 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

their problem, they have never done agronomic studies and continue to do as their parents and grandparents until the total exhaustion of the soil

So you're saying they are stupid and don't have a clue what they are doing after 900 years?You on the other hand have done studies that show the soil is in a state of total exhaustion,well I find that hard to believe so if you could post some results of those tests it would go a long way to support your theory and it would also prove that you are not in fact full of sheeat!

[spidermike007]

Rice is perhaps the most heinous crop on the planet. It is nice to eat, as long as it is whole grain rice. White rice is positively deplorable. Zero nutrition, and desirable for what reason, I do not know. And nearly all the rice farmers are insured of a life of poverty. There are countless alternative crops, that are infinitely more profitable. The fact that this horrific administration continues to promote the growing of rice, and to subsidize it, is ample evidence, that they want the masses to remind poor, and are unwilling to lift them up, and increase their quality of life.

 

This administration was installed to protect the elite, the super rich, those in power, and those that are well connected. 

[Srikcir]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

while total exports of all categories of rice will decrease to 8 million tonnes, declining from a normal rate of 9.5 million to 10 million tonnes per year

As planned by the Rice Exporters Association!

As explained by the Department of Internal Trade director-general Wichai Phochanakit (October 2019):

https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30377050

• "one of the factors behind the association’s decision to reduce export volume was the strength of the baht, making the price of rice unfavourable to importers such as China, the EU and US." 
• “It is not only rice exports that are affected by the baht appreciation, other agricultural products are too,”
• “To solve this issue, the Bank of Thailand must urgently introduce monetary measures to weaken the baht.”  

But BOT has not taken measures to weaken the baht.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, Beggar said:

So nice that we are allowed to eat the old rice. But since I googled rice and arsenic my love for rice disappeared completely. Now I avoid to eat rice whenever I can.

Sorry to go off topic a little BUT Geez, I Googled it also and am amazed at what I found:-

 

Rice has around 10 to 20 times more arsenic than other cereal crops because it is grown in flooded fields which make it much easier for arsenic to leave the soil and enter the rice.

But as the popularity of rice and its products (rice cakes, rice milk, etc) are on the rise, so should concern be for people beyond infants and pregnant women who eat rice on a regular basis. It can be quite toxic and in the European Union, arsenic is classified as a category 1 carcinogen, meaning that it’s known to cause cancer in humans.

Some facts……
• Basmati rice is lower in arsenic than other kinds of rice.
• Brown rice usually contains more arsenic than white rice because it is found in the husk, which isn't removed in brown rice. (That said, remember that brown rice has more nutrients.)
• Whether rice is grown organically or conventionally does not have an impact on arsenic levels.
• Rice cakes and crackers can contain levels higher than in cooked rice.
• The levels of arsenic found in rice milk are way more than the amounts that is generally allowed in drinking water.

 

Luckily I don't eat much rice but will be eating even less, if any now!!

 

So the blathering bureaucrats can rest easy and find some other nonsense to post!!

[Chongalulu]

18 hours ago, Artisi said:

Just another weak Thai excuse to cover their collective stupidity. 

It’s one of THE most comprehensive collections you’ll find anywhere ???? 

[Darkside Gray]

I have no Sympathy with these people they screwed with the system when Yinluck was in now they will come crying again, don't think they will get much sympathy from the General.

[FarFlungFalang]

53 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Rice is perhaps the most heinous crop on the planet. It is nice to eat, as long as it is whole grain rice. White rice is positively deplorable. Zero nutrition, and desirable for what reason, I do not know. And nearly all the rice farmers are insured of a life of poverty. There are countless alternative crops, that are infinitely more profitable. The fact that this horrific administration continues to promote the growing of rice, and to subsidize it, is ample evidence, that they want the masses to remind poor, and are unwilling to lift them up, and increase their quality of life.

 

This administration was installed to protect the elite, the super rich, those in power, and those that are well connected. 

You say white rice is nice to eat which is one reason that makes it desirable to eat but it does have some nutritional value not zero as you claim.As for the most heinous crop on the planet I think is also a gross exaggeration of which it seems you are particularly fond as indicated by your use of such adjectives otherwise I totally agree with your post.

[DrTuner]

'New jasmine rice in the beginning of the season will be earmarked for export, and the old rice will be consumed in Thailand, he added.'

 

Given to tourists at airport? Always same story, can't get the good stuff from where it's produced. Makes no sense. Don't know how many times I've ordered something from the internet outside Thailand just to find out "Made in Thailand". And in here they sell the crappiest possible "Made in China".

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Rice is perhaps the most heinous crop on the planet. It is nice to eat, as long as it is whole grain rice. White rice is positively deplorable. Zero nutrition, and desirable for what reason, I do not know. And nearly all the rice farmers are insured of a life of poverty. There are countless alternative crops, that are infinitely more profitable. The fact that this horrific administration continues to promote the growing of rice, and to subsidize it, is ample evidence, that they want the masses to remind poor, and are unwilling to lift them up, and increase their quality of life.

 

This administration was installed to protect the elite, the super rich, those in power, and those that are well connected. 

It's also because Thai farmers are stubborn and boneheaded and will only farm what they've farmed for generations in the way they've done it forever, come hell or high water. Just try to discuss alternatives to burning the fields and you'll hit a stone wall.

[Barry343]

23 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

What ever you do don't mention the HIGH BAHT!

He may not have said the high baht what he did say was “In the highly competitive global market, our competitors have chosen to offer lower prices to attract buyers,” which is a nice way of saying the baht is to high

 

[Fred white]

10 hours ago, wombat said:

Not really strange, just the way it is, same same but different...to enjoy the best beef Oz has to offer you have to be abroad.

About the same in the US the best meat goes to the top restaurant

[mikebell]

22 hours ago, emptypockets said:

old poor foreign blokes any more.

Absolutely agree.  It is my opinion that many long-stay ex-pats are far from poor, having sold up in their own country & brought a decent pension and lump sum over here.  Thailand's lack of hospitality is driving them away; the authorities fail-to-see, in their scrabble to attract high-spending tourists for two weeks, that the lifers are tourists for fifty weeks a year.

[DrTuner]

4 hours ago, mikebell said:

Absolutely agree.  It is my opinion that many long-stay ex-pats are far from poor, having sold up in their own country & brought a decent pension and lump sum over here.  Thailand's lack of hospitality is driving them away; the authorities fail-to-see, in their scrabble to attract high-spending tourists for two weeks, that the lifers are tourists for fifty weeks a year.

Not just the hospitality, just about everything concerning the quality of life, excluding better access to imported goods, is on a downhill trajectory and has been since about 2010 at least. The slope got steeper in 2014.

[tso310]

When back in the UK this summer I noticed Cambodian rice now on sale at many Asian stores. About 15% cheaper than Thai.

[rickudon]

On 11/6/2019 at 12:46 PM, spidermike007 said:

There are countless alternative crops, that are infinitely more profitable.

But, can you grow them in a floodplain? Where we are there is no irrigation available. Agriculture depends on the seasonal rains, or a borehole if you are lucky. During the wet season, the land floods - not much else you can grow except rice on much of the land. During the dry season - well you might get one quick crop of something else before the soil gets to dry, but very risky.

 

You could landscape the fields to provide ponds and raised areas which do not flood so much. But that is expensive - beyond the means of a poor farmer. As for alternative crops, one to 2 baht a kilo for cassava isn't going to make a small farmer rich. Palm oil, rubber, both have sunk to levels no more profitable than rice these days.

 

The soil is one issue. Clay which is baked hard like concrete in the dry season, and has a consistency of porridge in the wet. I would be interested in alternative crops, any suggestions?