BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Thailand Wednesday reiterated its intention to export more than 9 million metric tons of rice this year, with Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan stating the government will not ban rice exports.

  The country will produce an estimated 20 million tons of rice this year, which will be adequate for domestic consumption and exports, he added.

  Thailand plans to increase its share of the global rice market to more than 40% this year from 31.4% last year, when the country shipped 9.55 million tons overseas.

  During the January-March period, the country's rice exports jumped 66% to 3.25 million tons, said Mingkwan.

  Officials from the Ministry of Commerce plan to visit China, Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore to assure importers about the country's rice export policy.

On the stockpile front, Mingkwan said the ministry will maintain a 2.1 million ton government stockpile. The ministry will monitor the country's main annual crop production to ensure supply security before any release from the stockpile.

  Thailand's main crop production is expected to generate around 15.8 million tons of rice during the November 2008 to March 2009 period.

  Mingkwan said farmers should start unwinding their stocks to avoid the risk of price volatility, as another 4.2 million tons of rice from the country's second annual crop is expected to enter the market during April to June. 
 
   -By Supunnabul Suwannakij, Dow Jones Newswires; 66 2266 0744; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  
  
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