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Thai Market Overview
Baby corn is an important
commercial plant and export item of Thailand.
Baby corn fresh, frozen and canned becomes more
and more popular both in Thailand and abroad.
It earns the country more than 1 billion baht
each year. With a short period of cultivation,
only 45-60 days, farmers can reap the crop and
fetch 2,000-3,000 baht per rai. Also, there are
few pests to disturb the plant. Moreover, parts
of baby corn trees after harvests can be used
as animal feed, especially
for meat and milk cows.
In the global trade frame,
Thailand is estimated to account for 80 percent
of the world trade volume of baby corn. In 2000,
Thailand exported fresh baby corn to approximately
30 countries, and preserved baby corn products to
almost 100 countries.
In 2000,Thailand dominated the world baby corn trade
with both fresh and canned products, thus having
earned 1,731,942,373 baht from the export volume
of 58,536,378 kilograms. The U.S. is Thailand's
largest export market for canned baby corn, accounting
for 42.75 percent of Thailand's total export volume
and value of baby corn. As for fresh baby corn markets,
Malaysia is the biggest importing countries with
the share of around 50.70 percent of the export
volume.
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North
America
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Many
countries in North America import baby corn products
from Thailand. Among them, the U.S. is the most
important since it is one of the largest baby corn
markets for Thailand. Statistics in 2000 show that
Thai canned baby corn imported by the country totals
19,921,331 kilograms, which is valued 483,780,792
baht. Thailand manufactures canned baby corn products
in various package sizes, but a 1.5-kilogram can
size conforms to industry standards, and is prevalently
popular among food processors and the food-service
industry. Food processors in the U.S. prefer to
buy canned baby corn, and then make it into brined
products packed in glass jars. |
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Europe
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In
this area, Thailand has to face competitors mostly
from African countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia,
and Kenya. Sri Lanka is one big exporter in the
European market.
U.K. is the largest market in Europe for fresh baby
corn. With reference to Thai exports statistics,
in 2000 the country imported from Thailand 1,033,181
kilograms fresh baby corn, which was valued at 99,096,772
baht. But, exports figures of canned baby corn exported
to U.K. are higher than those of fresh one, reaching
the export volume of 1,580,185 kilograms worth 44,314,781baht.
However, there are some problems in this market.
Namely, U.K. has a close tie with some baby corn
exporting countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Kenya, Sri Lanka. This has resulted in a decrease
in Thailand's market share.
Apart from U.K., Denmark is another big fresh baby
corn importer for Thailand in 2000. It imported
36,766 kilograms worth 4,797,851 baht.
Bigger canned baby corn importer than U.K. is Germany,
who imported 3,471,817 kilograms in 2000. It was
valued at 90,402,590 baht. Another big canned baby
corn importer is France, who, in 2000, imported
1,257,447,791 kilograms worth 42,079,931 baht. |
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Middle
East
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The
import volume of baby corn in Middle East countries
is mainly accounted for by the Netherlands. However,
baby corn from the Netherlands, in fact, comes from
Asia and Africa. The country just imports baby corn
from other producers, and re-exports it to many
countries in this region. Buyers in the Middle East
generally import baby corn in the pre-packed form
like European importers.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is the largest
importer of canned baby corn. |
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Asia
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Among
Thai fresh baby corn markets in Asia, Malaysia is
the largest importing country followed by Japan.
According statistics in 2000, Malaysia imported
2,088,000 kilograms worth 6,503,800 baht.
In 2000, Hong Kong imported from Thailand 35,205
kilograms of fresh baby corn, worth 1,531,404 baht.
It imported canned baby corn more than fresh one,
buying 1,377,219 kilograms valued at 35,917,069
baht. Hong Kong can be considered to substantially
contribute to high export figures of Thai canned
baby corn then. But in 2000, Singapore imported
only 15,385 kilograms of fresh baby corn from Thailand
and only 996,843 kilograms of canned baby corn,
worth 24,997,592 baht. |
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Thai Market Overview |
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