Thailand: Food exports poised for 7.1% growth

• Feb 19, 2021

Food exports are forecast to recover to growth of 7.1% this year, fetching 1.05 trillion baht, driven by growing demand in the world market.

The anticipated rise in farm and food prices, especially for chicken, sugar, tapioca products and pineapples, as well as Thailand’s strict safety and supervisory measures to prevent the spread of the virus and food contamination, are factors in the food export prediction, according to the Board of Trade, the National Food Institute and the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

FTI president Anong Paijiprapapon said food exports tallied 980 billion baht last year, down 4.1% from the previous year, with shipments in dollar terms equivalent to US$31.3 billion, down 5.1%.

Lower exports led Thailand’s share of the world food market to drop to 2.32% last year from 2.49% in 2019. Thailand’s food exporter ranking in the world fell to 13th from 11th the year before.

“In 2020, Thailand’s food exports only grew to China, the US and Oceania,” said Mrs Anong.

“Outbound shipments to China amounted to 180 billion baht, up 18.1%, with those to the US up 12.2% to 119 billion baht, and Oceania up 1.7% to 33.1 billion.”

Exports to other markets, particularly Africa, Asean, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and the United Kingdom all fell, she said.

China is Thailand’s top food export market, accounting for 18.3% of the total, followed by CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) at 13.9%, and Japan at 12.7%.

Mrs Anong said Thai food exporters relied more on developing countries such as CLMV and China last year, with those markets representing 32.2% of Thailand’s total food exports, up from 12.1% a decade ago.

The contribution from developed markets such as Japan, the US, EU and the UK fell to 32.4% from 42.4% in the past decade.

Thai processed foods fetched 582 billion baht worth of exports last year, down by 5.56%, with agricultural products used as raw materials totalling 339 billion, down 2%. Processed food made up 59.3% of the country’s overall food exports in 2020.

Mrs Anong said apart from the pandemic impact, food exports last year also struggled with the stubborn baht strength, a container shortage and higher transport costs.

Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2070783/food-exports-poised-for-7-1-growth