BANGKOK, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's National Rice Policy and Management Committee (NRPMC) chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, announced on Friday that Thai rice prices for the 2020-21 crop year will remain unchanged from those of the previous season.
The price guarantee policy will cover five types of Thai rice.
They are white rice paddy with 15 percent moisture, jasmine (Hom Mali) rice paddy, fragrant Pathum Thani rice paddy with 15 percent moisture, glutinous rice paddy with 15 percent moisture, and provincial fragrant rice paddy.
The price guarantee policy will also offer compensation to farmers if market prices fall below the benchmark.
Meanwhile, the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said earlier this week that rice export prospects looked grim in the second half amidst sluggish global demand caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
The association also said that Thailand was once the world's largest rice exporter by a wide margin, but now is ranked third with 3.15 million tons shipped between Jan 1 and July 8, trailing behind India at 4.65 million tons and Vietnam at 4.17 million tons.
Thailand in 2019 exported 7.58 million ton of rice, down 32 percent from the year before, with a value of 131 billion baht (4.132 billion U.S. dollars), down 25 percent. Enditem
