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Pricy Thai rice sees drop in exports to China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-01 15:01

BANGKOK -- High and shaky prices amid the global economic downturn have been threatening Thai rice export to China, according to Chinese importers.

China is one of the major importers of Thai Hom Mali or jasmine rice, while the Thai rice exports to China sharply dropped by 80.96 percent in January, the website by The Nation newspaper reported Monday.

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Chengdu Jinxiong Trading normally imports 3,000 to 4,000 tones of Thai Hom Mali rice a year. However, the company is expected to reduce its imports of the Thai rice this year by 10 to 20 percent due to high prices amid the global economic slowdown, which has caused a drop in consumer purchasing power.

Luo Hong, deputy manager of the firm, said the higher prices might discourage Chinese consumers to buy the Thai rice.

Moreover, consumers might opt to buy cheaper rice from other countries such as Vietnam, Luo added.

Vietnamese rice is currently quoted at about US$200-300 per tone. Thai Hom Mali rice is quoted at US$889 a tone, while Pathum Thani rice is quoted at US$725 per tone.

Apart from the influence of Thai rice's high price, the imports fall this year is also due to the price instability, said Xiong Gao, general manager of Chinese importer Chendgu Jinxiong Trading.  

"Thai rice prices are fluctuating due to inconsistency in many government price guarantees. This has destroyed importers' confidence in the reliability of imports of Thai rice," he said, adding that the Thai government needs to ensure the price stability to reassure importers.