Thailand rice exports totaled approximately 6.4 million metric tons during January– July 2017, up 17% from the same period last year due to strong demand from Middle Eastern and African countries. Parboiled rice exports increased to 1.5 million metric tons, up 40 percent from the same period last year driven by bumper MY2016/17 off-season rice production. Exports of white rice also increased 10-15 percent from the same period last year driven by the sale of government stocks which makes Thai rice price more competitive than Vietnamese rice.