Thailand's rice exports are expected to fall more than 30 per cent this year to about 7 million tons due to high prices, dpa cited the Thai Rice Exporters Association as saying Thursday. "If India exports 3-4 million tons this year, then our par-boiled rice exports will be totally taken away," said Chookiat Ophaswongse, the association's honorary president. After several years of banning rice exports, India re-entered the international market in 2010. The country is partially competitive in par-boiled rice, which last year accounted for 30-35 per cent of Thailand's rice shipments. India's par-boiled rice costs about 150 dollars per ton less than Thailand's, Chookiat said. "Now we have zero exports of par-boiled, and if this continues, we're looking at a total of 7 million tons in rice exports by the end of the year," he said. Thailand, which has been the world's leading rice exporter for the past four decades, shipped 11 million tons of the grain in 2010. But exports are expected to fall dramatically in 2012, when the government's new rice price guarantee scheme goes into full effect. The ruling Pheu Thai Party won the July general election on a slew of populist campaign promises designed to boost farmers' incomes and benefit the poor. Under one of the schemes, the government has guaranteed to pay farmers 15,000 baht (500 dollars) per ton of plain white rice and 20,000 baht per ton of jasmine rice. The price guarantee, which went into effect late last year, has pushed Thai rice prices above the prevailing market prices, making it difficult for exporters to compete on the international market. "In December, we exported only 450,000 tons of rice, our lowest number in three years," Chookiat said. The government argues that the scheme will boost farmers' incomes and improve their standard of living. "I don't need to be proud about exporting a lot of rice," said Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who is in charge of economic affairs. "I think I need to be proud that our farmers have a better quality of life," he told a recent forum.
