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Agriculture
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2007-01-25 07:41:12-05
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Processed rice product exports look promising: KRC
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BANGKOK, Jan 25 - Thailand's exports of processed rice products look favourable, boosted by a raw material source advantage, according to the Kasikorn Research Centre. The leading think tank reported that rice products are attractive agro-industrial goods, although the domestic market had not expanded much. The export of rice products looks interesting, the Kasikorn report suggests, though the value is not especially high when compared with that of farm products. KRC said that rice products are a category of processed farm goods with room to grow, and which could build value-added factors in many kinds of products. In addition, there is much room to expand exports if manufacturers applied new production technology and adjusted their production processes to meet international standards. In the first 11 months of last year, the exports of rice products totalled 183,000 tonnes worth Bt7 billion (about US$200.6 million) , up 3 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively. The export market is expected to continue to expand. Interesting rice products with increased export value include sticky rice, noodles and rice-based snacks because Thailand has an advantage in terms of the raw material sources. However, the sources need to be developed to ensure that the raw material supply is sufficient, its quality meets the market demand, and its price is not too high for the rice products to compete in overseas markets. Domestically, manufacturers need to improve packaging of the products to ensure they are acceptable to consumers. (TNA)
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