Corn prices drop further in Thailand.

Thailand’s farm-gate prices for corn further declined to USD 0.15-0.18/kg in July 2017, 28% below last year’s price. This is partly due to competition from relatively cheaper duty-free corn imported from neighbouring countries under the Asean Free Trade Agreement. Despite the low farm-gate price, the cabinet approved measures to increase target corn acreage. To achieve this the government will offer a direct payment of USD 375 per hectare during marketing year 2017/18– marketing year 2019/20. This is part of a plan to diversify 0.1 million hectares of marketing year 2017/18 off-season rice into alternative crops. The total budget for this program is USD 39 million. Sources expect that the government is unlikely to achieve this target due to attractive rice prices and sufficient.