Thailand still retains its status as the world's largest exporter

							U.S. Market: Overview

Brief table analysis
As evidenced in the table above, Thailand’s percentage of the total market share has remained
relatively stable…

Thailand vs. India
(Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020914/biz.htm#1)


U.S. Market: Shifting Standings
Thailand’s upward trend, no competition at all.


Total Market: Overview

Similar to its standing as an exporter to the U.S. market, Thailand’s percentage of the total
market share has remained relatively stable, averaging about 26.91%, while the percentages of
the United States have not been stable, ranging from 22.71% to 12.36%. The contribution
from the U.S. to the world has actually decreased from 1985 (22.71% down to 15.62%). The
third ranked country, India, has made astonishing progress, holding 15.62% of the market in
2003, as opposed to its mere 5.34% in 1985. Not surprisingly, Thailand and India are the top
to exporters of rice to the U.S. market. (link to U.S. Market: Overview)

In 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture reported that the Iraqi Grain Board
awarded a 165,000-metric-ton tender for rice to Thailand, presumably because of their rice
being quoted at more competitive prices. Prior to the start of the first Gulf War in 1990, Iraq
was a major market for U.S. rice. Rice industry leaders in the United States have been
encouraging the Bush administration to re-establish their stronghold in Iraq’s rice market.
However, due to the fact that Thailand and Vietnam are against efforts to overthrow Saddam
Hussein’s government, Iraq’s rice tenders continue to go to them as opposed to the United
States. (Source: http://deltafarmpress.com/news/rice-tender/)


Total Market: Shifting Rankings

Talk about Thailand’s growth. (878,160 million market shares in to 1,953,178 million market
shares in 2003). Political stability? Cautious with countries that they are bound to through
trade linkages.

India, sharp peak in 1995 and then drop.

Total Market: Current Standings
According to the Department of Foreign Trade, in terms of volume and value, Thailand is
currently still the world’s largest exporter of rice while Vietnam follows close behind. As can
be predicted, there have been concerns regarding Vietnam’s ability to surpass Thailand,
especially considering its competitive pricing. Vietnamese rice is currently about $20 to $40
per ton on average lower than Thai rice. Though this is due to inventory and rice quality
issues, they can be easily rectified through time and experience.

Despite the competition between the two top positions, Thailand and Vietnam have agreed to
encourage cooperation between their “private sectors.” Leaders of the rice industry in
Vietnam have proposed joint investment opportunities with Thai exporters which would
benefit Vietnam by improving their quality and inventory through modeling their systems
after Thailand. According to the Department of Foreign Trade’s director-general, Rachane
Pojanasuntorn, “[w]ith the cooperation, prices of rice of both countries would stabilize and
move in the same direction on the world market.” (Source:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HD26Ae02.html)

How did Vietnam move from 6th to 2nd place from 2003 to today?



The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's new five-year development
strategy aimed to maintain an annual yield of 36 million tonnes of rice with a minimum 4
million tonnes earmarked for export. To meet the target, the nation is investing in irrigation
projects and storage facilities, and encouraging farmers to adopt more efficient production
methods to increase crop yields.

Additionally, hikes in the price of Thai rice last year pushed several customers including Iran,
Uruguay, Syria and Nigeria to look to Vietnam thanks to the country's more competitive
prices. Thai rice exporters expressed concerns that Vietnam would not only maintain a firm
foothold in the global market but expand its market share by boosting exports to Japan, South
Korea and Australia, all of which buy rice from Thailand.


Yet despite the quick upward movement, Thailand still retains a competitive advantage due to
Vietnam’s inconsistency in quality, which results in prices $15 to $20 per ton lower than
average prices on Thai exports. (Source: http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060522/4/2kw5m.html)