India is surpassing Thailand on seaborne rice exports

Thailand is expected to lose its coveted #2 position in the global trade for rice as the country’s production faced drought and the appreciation of the Thai Baht challenged Thailand competitiveness on the market.

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“The Thai Rice Exporters Association cut its export target for 2020 by 13%, to 6.5 million metric tons, from an earlier forecast of 7.5 million tons. The new estimate puts Thailand on course for its lowest shipment volume since 2000” (Bloomberg, 22 July 2020)

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Using Shipfix Market Insights, we observe this trend very clearly: total rice orders out of Thailand have dropped significantly since Q1 2019. In parallel, Shipfix Order Data tells us that global orders out of India have been growing steadily over the same period.

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Have the major importers turned to India in search for a more competitive trade partner?

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It also appears that the total volume of advertised tonnage openings have not yet met that pickup in orders. Could this be a consequence of COVID restrictions?

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Contact the Shipfix team to discuss how our data insights can help you take strategic positions in the market

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