Thailand responds to lagging rice exports
By John Reidy
Rice exports for Thailand continue to trail last year’s pace, with June 2026 cumulative volumes of 2.43 million tonnes down 24% compared with the same period in 2025, but the government is not standing pat, according to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture.
June’s performance was a slight improvement from the 29% year-on-year gap recorded in early May amid falling sales due to the Middle East conflict, as El Niño-driven stockpiling among Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries accelerated weekly shipments and pushed prices higher, the FAS said in its recent update.
The Philippines and Malaysia, supplemented by continued demand growth in Africa, drove significant acceleration in Thailand’s weekly export volumes.
Perennially the world’s second-leading rice exporter behind only India, Thailand is forecasted by the FAS to ship 7.3 million tonnes in marketing year 2026-27, equal to 2025-26 but down 580,000 tonnes from 2024-25.
According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, world rice prices broadly increased, reflecting the combination of El Niño-related food security demand and tighter near-term supply from several origins.
On June 12, the National Rice Policy and Management Committee approved a 10.2 billion baht ($314 million) support package to stabilize paddy prices and is actively pursuing new markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America, alongside up to 960,000 tonnes in government-to-government sales to China.
The package includes two measures: an 8.43 billion baht ($259 million) price-stabilization program and a 1.76 billion baht ($54 million) structural reform initiative to locally store and consolidate 3 million tonnes and premium-rice quality promotion project.
In coordination with exporters, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) is working on multiple market-development initiatives to support the 7 million tonnes full-year target. The MOC has directed the Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) and the Department of International Trade Promotion to work with commercial attachés at Thai missions abroad and to utilize existing free-trade agreements to expand market access for Thai rice in Africa and Latin America.
“DFT expressed confidence that proactive engagement across both public and private channels would support Thailand’s price competitiveness and volume delivery through the remainder of the year,” the FAS said.
This article has been republished from The World Grain.