Rice price increasing due to drought, Covid-19

Somkiat Makcayathorn honorary president of Thai Rice Packers Association (TRPA), said that currently rice prices had risen to Bt15 per kilogram, up from Bt12.50 in January, or about 20 to 30 per cent.
“Rice prices will tend to rise until a new season of rice production starts between August and September this year,” he said.
He explained that a five-kilogram white rice pack costs between Bt70 and Bt120 per pack and tended to increase to between Bt90 and Bt150 per pack, up by approximately 20 to 30 per cent depending on the product brand.
“Meanwhile, the price of a five-kilogram Hom Mali rice pack was unchanged at between Bt160 and Bt250 per pack,” he said.
He further explained that the worst drought crisis in 40 years had caused rice prices to increase, resulting in farmers being unable to tap four to five million rai of land for off-season farming.
“We expect rice production to decrease by approximately 1.5 to 2 million tonnes,” he said. “Besides, export market demand has also increased during the Covid-19 outbreak.”
He said there was no need for people to hoard stocks as Thailand will not face rice shortage.
“Retail departments have a policy to store products at the distribution centre, then they will distribute to each branch, so it would take time to send products,” he said.
He added that demand for rice consumption in the country would not increase from the previous year and may decrease as the number of tourists has declined.
“Demand for rice in the previous year was 7.5 million tonnes, up from 2018 by approximately 8 per cent due to the increasing number of tourists. This year, Thailand will be able to produce 17.5 million tonnes of rice,” he added.
“The Thai rice pack market has a value of about Bt30 billion in the previous year, but this year it is expected that the value would increase due to the rising price.”