The line graphs compare the rise and fall of the price of rice grown in Thailand and Vietnam over the course of four years beginning from 2012.
What is most striking when looking at the data is that rice cultivated in Thailand was traded at higher costs than Vietnam’s. Additionally, prices tended to volatile throughout the period examined.
Looking first at Thailand, rice was sold at 550 million dollars in the first month of 2013, far outpacing the corresponding figures for its counterparts. This period of high price, however, was not to last, as a steep and prolonged decline set in, cutting rice price by over one-fourth to 400 million dollars in December. Thailand’s 2012 price maintained at approximately 500 million dollars in the first quarter before experiencing a pullback and reaching an all-time low at 450 million dollars. Nevertheless, following this bottom was a notable recovery that lifted its price to nearly 550 in July, hovering at that mark for the remainder of the timeframe. The year 2014 and 2015 followed contrasting trajectories in the first four months, after which they correspondingly documented a net increase and ended at similar price, at around 480 million dollars.
Turning to Vietnam, the price of rice in 2012 generally maintained the highest throughout the period, peaking at about 420 million dollars in autumn months. Although the year witnessed significant decreases in the price in several months, the price bounced back and reached its initial starting point in the last month. Rice traded in 2013 fluctuated between 340 and 360 million dollars, with the month that rice was sold at the highest price was January and the lowest was July. The initial price in 2015 was the lowest, at 300 million dollars, before climbing sharply and reached the same level as 2012’s at 360 million in June, where it stabilized until September and ended at just 330 million in December. Meanwhile, only in 2014 was there little change in the price of rice, with the figure being 330 million dollars in the 12th month.