Bangkok (VNA) – The price of Thai rice is higher than that ofcompetitors due to limited supply and the strengthening of the baht, whichcould hurt exports, the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) said.

TREA President Charoen Laothammathat cited data of the Customs Department that thecountry exported 2.11 million tonnes of rice worth 43 billion baht (1.38billion USD), down 32.1 percent and 15.7 percent year-on-year respectivelyduring the first four months of 2020.

The figure during the first four months of 2019 was 3.1 million tonnes worth 51billion baht.

In April alone, Thailand exported 643,852 tonnes of rice, earning 14.55 billionbaht, up 23.7 percent and 32.7 percent respectively compared to the previousmonth as countries in America, Africa and Asia imported more rice due touncertainty following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The association expected the export of rice in May to drop to approximately500,000 tonnes, as rice importing countries were delaying orders, whilecompetitors Vietnam, India and Pakistan had returned to the market.

In addition, the price of Thai rice was higher than that of competitors due tolimited supply and strengthening of the baht, he noted.

He explained that the price of 5 percent white rice in Thailand was 501 USD pertonne, higher than that of competitors by 30 USD to 130 USD.

In 2019, Thailand shipped 7.58 million tonnes of rice abroad, raking in 131billion baht (over 4 billion USD), down 32 percent in volume and 25 percent invalue compared to the previous year./.