Thailand To Regain Its Role As World's Leading Rice Exporter

[webfact]

Thailand to regain role as world's leading rice exporter



BANGKOK, May 25 - Permanent-Secretary for Commerce Vatchari Vimooktayon said she is certain Thailand will regain its leading position as the world's No. 1 rice exporter this year .

Ms Vatchari said the strong baht has affected Thai rice exports in terms of rice price direction, but she said this year she believed Thailand would be able to export 8 million tonnes as targeted.

That she was positive that the country would regain its No.1 rice exporter status because there is still a high demand of rice in the world market, particularly from China, which is ordering big lots of rice from Thailand.

She said even though currently both India and Vietnam export more rice than Thailand, she believed the two countries would export less in the second half of this year, for they would have smaller rice harvests and less rice in their stocks.

The Foreign Trade Department is negotiating government-to-government (G2G) rice buying-selling contracts with interested countries in order to push Thai rice exports to reach its target this year. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-05-25

[Valentine]

I will believe it when I see it but then again may not due to G 2 G deals being top secret.

[rametindallas]

Another 'White Lie' from the Puea Thai government. Every statistic says the World is awash in surplus rice, the government will have to admit their financial losses if they sell at market prices, and the rice in storage is of questionable quality. Who does she think will believe her? Certainly no one in the rice trade.

[notmyself]

Sure they can, sell the whole lot to China for 1/2 price, the WTO may have a negative view on that I imagine.

[ratcatcher]

"....she is certain Thailand will regain its leading position as the world's No. 1 rice exporter this year ."

And I am certain Thailand will have High Speed Rail by Christmas.

What is she smoking?

[Lingba]

world's No. 1 rice exporter this year ???.......................you sure its not the "hub" now?

[notmyself]

I will believe it when I see it but then again may not due to G 2 G deals being top secret.

The G2G deals are great to hide millions and perhaps billions of lost Baht but this monster has become so big it's out of control. You can check your wallet and expect 10k Baht to be there but only find 9k and put it down to paying a forgotten bill, lost in the street or given the wrong change at some point because it was dark. When you only find 2k out of the 10k, you know full well that it was not due to any of the above. You can buy a bottle of vodka for sale at a bar, siphon off 10% and replace it with water. Chances are you will get away with it because customers will put it down to bad taste buds that day due to a hot curry they had that evening, or some such. If you siphon off 80% and replace it with water you have no chance of getting away with it.

The 2.2T loan is a smokescreen to somehow put 7k back in the wallet or 70% of the vodka back in the bottle. Kick the can down the road for a few years then get out of Dudge just before the sheriff turns up before claiming the said shefiff was only sent for political motivations. It's not by any means the oldest trick in the book but let's face it, there are a considerable number of pages that come after it.

[Bellweather]

"....she is certain Thailand will regain its leading position as the world's No. 1 rice exporter this year ."

And I am certain Thailand will have High Speed Rail by Christmas.

What is she smoking?

If this usual exaggerated claim isn't realised we will hear nothing more about it from government sources

[bigbamboo]

EVERYONE has less rice in their stocks than Thailand.... and that's because they sell it at market prices before it's goes manky.

[OzMick]

As the problem is the inflated price being paid to Thai farmers, a policy that is a direct order from PTP's little tin god, and not the high THB, I can only assume her position allows her insider knowledge as to the timing of the next coup. Hopefully, she is correct.

[ggold]

Thailand where every day is April fools day. Oops its nearly June!

Edited May 25, 2013 by ggold

[Scully]

Like politicians the world over, either unreasonably optimistic or just plain lying through their teeth.

[Payboy]

She said even though currently both India and Vietnam export more rice than Thailand, she believed the two countries would export less in the second half of this year, for they would have smaller rice harvests and less rice in their stocks.

Looks like she's got the dial-a-drought app on her iPhone.

[givenall]

As usual everything magically work out for Thailand

Sent from my ST18a using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[happynthailand]

"wishful thinking"

a bird pooped on my head so it must be true

[MaxLee]

Thailand to regain role as world's leading rice exporter

[AleG]

"wishful thinking"

a bird pooped on my head so it must be true

Magical Thinking is the first thing that came to mind.

Magical thinking is thinking that one's thoughts by themselves can bring about effects in the world or that thinking something corresponds with doing it.

Alternatively, and highly likely, it´s just plain BS to keep a façade that "everything is all right and we are not a bunch of incompetent crooks as facts otherwise would suggest"

[bangkokburning]

Recently saw in the Crawler on Thai PBS that Thai GDP was down 1% due to strong Baht. Was blamed on exports, rice was noted.

Hilarious, govt GDP # drops 20% due clearly to the currency and both the BOT and MoF do nothing.

20%, that is freefall.

On top of the stunted gdp the export market has experienced in recent years. My hunch is and I have read as much that Thailand must keep that thb above 30.50 - or its a disaster.

There is a tipping point and Thailand is very much on that edge. I have commented on this many times.

Thailand sells stuff. No one needs to buy stuff here when stuff in x y and z is cheaper. The world is awash in mfg goods, there is plenty of rice (currently).

[yoshiwara]

Sure they can, sell the whole lot to China for 1/2 price, the WTO may have a negative view on that I imagine.

Some time ago there was an effort to make a shipment to China with false accounting but the incident blew and there was a scalded cat pull-back. Governments are not allowed to sell goods at less than cost as this is considered dumping. The rising baht provides a convenient excuse but the level of subsidy kicks any small adjustment into touch. Once the stored rice starts to spoil then the policy is blown. The government will be pressed to deny rotting stores. Edited May 25, 2013 by yoshiwara

[chainarong]

You were the World's leading rice exporter, so , would you like to explain why you are not now, is it because of decisions made, that you were told not to make, what go's around comes around kiddies, the administration of this country has to look no further than it's self and heads surely will roll, preferably at the highest level, there aren't I being kind

[Soupdragon]

The devils in the details. It is possible Thailand will export the most rice, not sure they have a choice really, they can't store much more, but will it be published where it went and more importantly how much revenue was raised from the sale,

[Thai at Heart]

I think it would be considered cheating to claim sales of 2012 crops carried out in late 2013 don't care.

They might ship a lot of volume, but wrong crop year.

[slapout]

The Commerce ministry seems to have assumed the "keeper/seller of the rice" program, Science Ministry is keeper/seller of the flood control program, The Agi ministry storage/disappearance of rice, TAT is tasked with supporting proganda on tourist number/spending, Deputy prime minister in charge of BIB to handle "everything under control" country wide, PM to drum up foreign funds to bankroll the shortage at the national collection level, and finally the Finance ministry is tasked to keep borrowing, shifting, and following the disappearing internal monetary funds to ensure, what is expected is sent/paid to the big boss.

Add those Ministries in who are flying under the radar of multi billion baht projects, with the same end results expected/promised and there you have Thai style demoracy.

[notmyself]

Sure they can, sell the whole lot to China for 1/2 price, the WTO may have a negative view on that I imagine.

Some time ago there was an effort to make a shipment to China with false accounting but the incident blew and there was a scalded cat pull-back. Governments are not allowed to sell goods at less than cost as this is considered dumping. The rising baht provides a convenient excuse but the level of subsidy kicks any small adjustment into touch. Once the stored rice starts to spoil then the policy is blown. The government will be pressed to deny rotting stores.

As I remember there is a 5% clause which means it could be sold at cost less 5%. 5% lol, like that really means anything in this situation.

This whole rice situation IS going to blow at some stage.

I busted a few numbers some time back and the situation is something like this......

Assuming the new rail system was in place, all the rolling stock was on a circular track and that the rice was in one place and had to be moved to one other place, it would take over 6 months just to move it.

Let's look at it another way.... All the rolling stock is pure cargo. It would take 100 trains @ 1 KM long to move 250,000 ton and Thailand has <>18 million ton.

So just straight off the top of the head. Storage, transport, wastage (which HAS to be massive), high exchange rate and graft (30%?) means it will need to be sold at double the price paid for it just to break even. In addition, I think I would be hard pressed to find anyone who expects the quality to be 'top'. Ivory Coast 'said' they had to dump 20%. Could be BS but I tend to think it was at the very least an indication as to its quality at present.

[marcusd]

Sure they can, sell the whole lot to China for 1/2 price, the WTO may have a negative view on that I imagine.

Some time ago there was an effort to make a shipment to China with false accounting but the incident blew and there was a scalded cat pull-back. Governments are not allowed to sell goods at less than cost as this is considered dumping. The rising baht provides a convenient excuse but the level of subsidy kicks any small adjustment into touch. Once the stored rice starts to spoil then the policy is blown. The government will be pressed to deny rotting stores.

As I remember there is a 5% clause which means it could be sold at cost less 5%. 5% lol, like that really means anything in this situation.

This whole rice situation IS going to blow at some stage.

I busted a few numbers some time back and the situation is something like this......

Assuming the new rail system was in place, all the rolling stock was on a circular track and that the rice was in one place and had to be moved to one other place, it would take over 6 months just to move it.

Let's look at it another way.... All the rolling stock is pure cargo. It would take 100 trains @ 1 KM long to move 250,000 ton and Thailand has <>18 million ton.

So just straight off the top of the head. Storage, transport, wastage (which HAS to be massive), high exchange rate and graft (30%?) means it will need to be sold at double the price paid for it just to break even. In addition, I think I would be hard pressed to find anyone who expects the quality to be 'top'. Ivory Coast 'said' they had to dump 20%. Could be BS but I tend to think it was at the very least an indication as to its quality at present.

How does Goddess minister 'KNOW' THAT India and Pakistan will have Less rice later this year? is she getting uncle Taksin to buy it?

No wonder this country is backward. but if they were as smart as us.... It wouldnt be affordable or fun to be here.

Sent from my GT-N7000B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[FarangTalk]

The Commerce ministry seems to have assumed the "keeper/seller of the rice" program, Science Ministry is keeper/seller of the flood control program, The Agi ministry storage/disappearance of rice, TAT is tasked with supporting proganda on tourist number/spending, Deputy prime minister in charge of BIB to handle "everything under control" country wide, PM to drum up foreign funds to bankroll the shortage at the national collection level, and finally the Finance ministry is tasked to keep borrowing, shifting, and following the disappearing internal monetary funds to ensure, what is expected is sent/paid to the big boss.

Add those Ministries in who are flying under the radar of multi billion baht projects, with the same end results expected/promised and there you have Thai style demoracy.

It's even better when the population is too uneducated, nationalistic and scared to question anything.

The problem with selling Thai rice these days, apart from being too expensive, is that after the World market was forced into buying it because of high Thai rice prices, everyone now realises that Vietnamese, Indian, Cambodian and other rice is just as good.

Why pay more for Thai rice when you can get the same product elsewhere for much less?

Edited May 25, 2013 by FarangTalk

[bri1guy]

I think that Thai Jasmine rice InThai: <Thai language removed>; Khao Hom Mali is the best rice I have ever had.. Its also great for Export..

Edited May 25, 2013 by metisdead
English is the only acceptable language, except within the Thai language forum, where of course using Thai is allowed.

[anon467367354]

Thailand to regain role as world's leading rice exporter

what is the source of this, a crystal ball?

this is just mindless propaganda with nothing backing it up.

it's no wonder the mindless spew this out to their mindless constituents.

too bad its' all about putting up appearances and integrity has nothing to do with it at all.

[FarangTalk]

I think that Thai Jasmine rice InThai: <Thai language removed>; Khao Hom Mali is the best rice I have ever had.. Its also great for Export..

Vietnamese and Cambodian rice is equally as good, in my experience.

As difficult as it was for them to admit, that is also the opinion of my Thai friends who have visited there.

[Robby nz]

I think that Thai Jasmine rice InThai:<Thai language removed>; Khao Hom Mali is the best rice I have ever had.. Its also great for Export..

That would be true and I understand that Thailand was not only the worlds biggest exporter of rice but had a reputation of producing a quality product.

That reputation meant it could sell that quality product at a premium price to discerning buyers.

As we have seen from the Ivory Coast deal that reputation can no longer be relied upon.

However it depends on what they are planning on selling.

If it is new seasons rice with quality control then that reputation could be salvaged.

But that would still leave the stored and deteriorating rice to get rid of somewhere, somehow.

If they sell the old rice in G 2 G deals then that takes the market away from the new seasons crop and it would then have to go into storage.

So even if they do sell the 8 mill tons this year they will still have the warehouses full.

If as we have been told there is a world glut of rice that makes the situation even worse.