BANGKOK: Thailand expects to export more than 7 million tonnes of rice this year, exceeding its initial target, an exporters association said on Monday.

Rice exports are expected to be boosted by competitive prices due to the weak Thai baht, said Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.

Thailand, currently the world’s third-largest rice exporter after India and Vietnam, is expected to export about 2 million tonnes of rice in the first quarter of 2022, he said.

“If we can keep this up, we could possibly reach 8 million tonnes of rice exports this year,” Chookiat said.

The country has shipped a higher volume to markets in the Middle East such as Iraq, and observed consistent demand from African markets, he said.

Asian markets are also turning to Thai rice over Vietnamese because of competitive prices, Chookiat said.

Thailand’s 5% broken rice was trading at around $410 to $428 per tonne last week, similar to Vietnam’s rice of the same grade at $415-$420.

The volatile baht was trading at 33.45 against the US dollar on Monday, weakening 3.82% from a month ago.