Thailand's THB has dropped to its lowest level in the last 7 months. This significant decline is attributed to the country's tourism industry - a key driver of growth – being heavily affected by the Corona epidemic.
Traders expect export prices to fall further as the epidemic becomes more and more complicated, with new cases and deaths increasing. China was Thailand's second-largest rice export market last year, and Chinese tourists also account for more than a quarter of the total number of tourists visiting Thailand each year.
“Meanwhile, the domestic rice prices in Thailand are still at high levels due to prolonged drought, which negatively affects supply,” a rice trader in Bangkok said.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the Corona epidemic is causing certain disruptions in the sale of our country's agricultural products to China. In particular, rice is the commodity that is affected the most significantly.
Many rice factories in the Mekong Delta have not yet signed contracts to export rice to China. With orders going to China being increasingly scarce, many traders have to look for new outlets.
However, the price of Vietnamese broken rice has not been much affected and has even increased by about 5%, from 345 USD / ton to 355 - 360 USD / ton. Traders said that although the demand for broken rice is still high, the land area in Vietnam is being narrowed, partly due to saline intrusion. Farmers in the Mekong Delta have now harvested about 30% of the winter-spring rice crop.
With a progressive spirit, many domestic rice enterprises are still making efforts to increase production and diversify markets despite the complicated developments of weather and the epidemic.
>> Vietnam’s import & export interrupted amid coronavirus outbreak
