The largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (also referred to as Burma until 1989). Laos and Thailand border it to the east and southeast, China to the northeast, Bangladesh and India to the northwest, the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest.
Located in Asia, India is the second largest rice producing nation after China and the country ranks first in terms of rice exports. With a mammoth share of 40% of the global rice trade, India exports rice to more than 150 countries around the world, and from Dubai to China, different countries depend upon different varieties of rice for different needs.
With Ramadan rapidly approaching, Egypt has ended a three-month government rice price-fixing program. The decision has resulted in record-breaking price increases for the 104 million citizens of the nation.
India is the second-largest rice-producing country in the world. Rice is the major food crop that satisfies global hunger and the Asian nation holds the top spot when it comes to rice exports. Indian rice, especially long-grain fragrant basmati rice, has a great demand worldwide and riding on the back of high global demand, India commands a mammoth 40% share in the rice trade. Considering only the case of basmati rice, the exports of the long grain variety from India increased by 26% in the financial year 2022-23.
Thailand is all set to beat Vietnam in the global rice market and earn the second spot below numero uno India. 3.50 million ton is the exports from Thailand in the first six months of this year, which is 56.6% higher than first six months of last year. By value also export growth is good 42.9%. Thai agriculture and cooperatives minister Chalermchai Sree-on shared his optimistic target of upstaging Vietnam in global rice market. He said that if Thai rice exports cross seven million tons then Vietnam will be upstaged by Thailand. Soaring rice exports will improve domestic prices in Chalermchai’s opinion. Customs dept. data and Thai rice export association data shows that huge 69.4% and 57.1% month-on-month rise in rice exports was seen in June 2022 by volume and value respectively. 13.12 billion bahat worth 764131 tonnes rice was exported in June compared to 8.35 billion bahat worth 450973 tonnes of rice exported in May.
Loss of one means gain of other in perfect competition market. Vietnam and Thailand are two main competitors of India in global rice market. Current fiscal can be year of bonanza for Indian rice export business on account of drop in yield and rise in production cost of competitors Thailand and Vietnam. $420 a tonne is price of Vietnamese and Thai rice in global market, which is $60 higher compared to Indian rice. That’s not all, it is believed that the gap will only widen with time. Expected robust kharif crop in India may enable high returns for exporters. Last year’s record breaking 21 MT rice exports no way looks insurmountable this year and according to AIREA president, this year’s export figures will surpass last year’s figures by a little bit.
