Thai food exports on the rise

BANGKOK, February 26 (TNA) - Food authorities have projected that the value of Thai food exports should rise by 5.8 per cent year-on-year in 2016 to about 950 billion baht, after a fall of 1.9 per cent year-on-year to 897.53 billion last year. National Food Institute (NFI) Director Yongwut Saowaphruek, Thai Chamber of Commerce Deputy Chairman Poj Aramwattananont and Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)'s Food Industrial Group Chief Boonpeng Santiwatanatham told a press conference on February 25 that Thai food exports, excluding those of animal feeds, dropped last year due to a global economic slowdown, lower product prices and US dollar appreciation. The NFI chief anticipated that the Thai food exports should rise because the Thai government is reaching new markets including the Middle East, stimulating the national economy and investing in 10 industrial clusters and growing Cambodian, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnamese economies. The NFI chief acknowledged that there are risk factors against growing Thai food exports, including drought, wars and political conflicts, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a global economic slowdown, labor abuse, illegal fishing, fluctuating monetary policies of countries and lower oil prices. According to the NFI chief, rice exports formed 17.4 per cent of overall Thai food exports last year, a drop in both their value and volume because of impacts from a global economic slowdown and fierce competition in the world rice market. The NFI chief noted that Thailand was the world's second biggest rice exporter last year at 9.8 million tons, while India was the rice-exporting champion in 2015, shipping 10.23 million tons of rice to overseas markets, and Vietnam was the third biggest rice exporter, shipping 6.6 million tons of rice to overseas markets. The NFI chief predicted that Thai rice exports should drop by 8.1 per cent this year, to 9 million tons, as most buyers which are developing African countries facing economic problems, and Nigeria, the most important market of Thai rice, has imposed up to 60 per cent tariff on rice imports and strictly controlled dollar outflows. The NFI chief reported that the ASEAN Community (AC) was the biggest food market of Thailand last year, as it bought 25.8 per cent of overall Thai food exports. Last year, the NFI chief said, the value of Thai food imports, on the other hand, rose 10.8 per cent to 356.74 billion baht due to declining local seafood supplies. (TNA)