BANGKOK (Sputnik) — Thailand in the first quarter of 2016 became the world leader in the export of rice, having sold 2.85 million metrics tons (3.1 million US tons) of grain – 34 percent more than in the same period last year — abroad, local media reported, citing the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA).
According to the Bangkok Post, TREA said that Thailand has significantly outstripped its major competitors in rice exports — India with 2.3 million tons, Vietnam with 1.4 million tons, Pakistan with 1.3 million tons and the United States, which exported some 820,000 tons during this period.
Thailand takes world's top rice exporter crown in Q1 https://t.co/G9QeRBlSOZ pic.twitter.com/WJCBfVjXy0
— Bangkok Post (@BangkokPostNews) 29 апреля 2016 г.
The main importers of Thai rice during the three-month period were Indonesia (over 317,000 tons), Ivory Coast (272,000 tons) and Benin (258,000 tons). China bought just under 260,000 tons of rice from Thailand during the same period, according to TREA.
Bangkok reportedly earned some 44 billion baht ($1.26 billion) from rice exports during this period, up from around 36 billion baht ($1 billion) last year.