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Tag: Hom Mali Rice Hong Kong has not reduced purchase orders for Thai jasmine (Hom Mali) rice since it understood and accepted the rice price surge, according to Thailand's Foreign Trade Department (FTD). Speaking after leading a team of rice exporters to Hong Kong, a key importer of Thai jasmine rice, FTD director-general Apiradi Tantraporn said Hong Kong had enquired about the reported insufficiency of Thai rice for export. It was told Thailand could produce around 21-23 million tonnes of rice annually and export an average of 9 million tonnes. So, it could give assurances that rice exports to various countries would be sufficient for this year. The Commerce Ministry set a target to export 8.75-9 million tonnes of rice for this year, she said. Thailand had exported more than 3.7 million tonnes of rice at a total value of US$1.68 billion or Bt56.85billion from January to April 18. At present, the price of jasmine rice price averages $1,220-1,150 or Bt34,900 per tonne. Mr. Apiradi said the Hong Kong authorities had not worried about the rising rice price. It could acceptthe price because it had moved in accordance with the market mechanism, not by speculation. "Although local rice prices will stay high, we are not happy because we have to maintain our customerbase. So, we have not concentrated on prices. "Hong Kong has neither rejected nor reduced the Thai jasmine rice import. It imported 128,000 tonnesof rice in the January-March period. Its annual demand for the rice totals over 300,000 tonnes," she said. "Even if the rice price is higher than the current level, we believe Hong Kong will accept the jasminerice price definitely."