BANGKOK- Thailand exported about 3.06 million metric tons of rice from Jan. 1 to April 24, up 23.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, with Indonesia the biggest buyer, the commerce ministry said on Thursday.
The value of rice exports in the period jumped about 54 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.
Of the volume record, Indonesia bought 680,099 metric tons, followed by Iraq with 353,100 metric tons and South Africa with 216,050 tons, the ministry said.
The ministry reiterated that if Thai rice remained competitive and in demand, overall exports of the grain this year could exceed a target of 7.5 million metric tons.
Thailand is the world’s second-largest rice exporter after India.
Thailand’s economy expanded slowly in February with growth in the service sector and an increase in tourist arrivals offseting a fall in exports from the previous month, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said on Friday.
Thailand recorded a current account surplus of $2 billion in February, after a deficit of $0.2 billion in the previous month, the BOT said.
There have been 8.73 million foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand this year up to March 24, up 44 percent year-on-year, with visitors from China reaching 1.63 million, tourism ministry data showed.
