Thai rice exports seen down 39 percent

Following are selected highlights from a report issued by a US Department of Agriculture attache in Thailand. "The anticipated large supplies of rice from the MY2011/12 and MY2012/13 crops, driven by the aggressive Paddy Pledging Program, will hardly be exported in 2012 as Thai rice prices remain far above it's competitors. Thus, Thailand will see its rice exports reduced by 39 percent from MY2010/2011 to 6.5 million tonnes.
Imported feed wheat and flour are increasingly substituting corn in feed rations as domestic corn supplies remain tight, as such feed wheat consumption will increase by 50 percent to 900,000 tonnes in 2011/2012.