The successful staging of elections in Nigeria, the largest buyer of Thai rice, should help Thailand's rice exports, says a study by Kasikorn Research Center.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to win the country's elections held on Monday, enabling his ruling People's Democratic Party to expedite campaigns improving living standards and consumption of Nigerians.

Last year, Nigeria became the biggest buyer of Thai rice with 1.44 million tonnes in volume, making up 15.7% of the 9.04 million tonnes of total rice exports.

The election results should improve bilateral trade between Thailand and Nigeria in the future, said K-Research. Trade value between Thailand and Nigeria was still low at about US$1 billion in combined last year, with Thailand enjoying a trade surplus of $863 million.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association said Nigeria bought 191,978 tonnes of rice in the first two months of this year, up 25% from 143,400 tonnes in the same period of 2010. Nigeria buys up to 70% of all Thai rice exported to Africa.

The research house also expressed confidence that the prolonged political turmoil in Ivory Coast would not deter Thai rice exports to Africa since the grain is a necessity, but shipment delivery may be difficult.

Exporters are being encouraged to concentrate on other countries in the region such as Ghana, Benin, Cameroon and Senegal to offset the affected markets.

Source: Bangkok Post