"Rice exports may fall below 8 million tonnes for 2019, with this year's prospects still uncertain because of a slew of risk factors such as the continued strong baht, natural disasters and emerging new rice exporters like Myanmar and China. Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said shipments definitely will stand below 9 million tonnes, as projected by the association for 2019, but could struggle to hit 8 million tonnes. In the first 11 months of 2019, Thailand shipped 7.11 million tonnes, a dip of 30.4% from the same period a year earlier, fetching US$2.90 billion, down 24.3%. The fall was attributed to the strong baht, hurting the country's export competitiveness. Another factor is the lack of Thai rice variety development over a period of 30 years to cope with changing market demand and consumer behaviour. Thailand has shipped the same rice varieties for 30 years, Mr Charoen said..."