One of the main objectives of the study is to evaluate the likely competition in the international rice trade that Burma and Thailand may have to face from Australia in the future. However, before delving directly into that aspect it was necessary to trace the development of the Australian rice industry and factors attributing to it.
It was found that the industry's early progress was owing to the high tariff protection it enjoyed, and also largely on account of the efficient planning and management of the Rice Marketing Board of New South Wales. The performance of the industry with specific reference to export growth in recent years, was analysed using a constant market share approach. The conclusion that could be drawn from the technical analysis is that over recent years the Australian rice industry has successfully diversified its export outlets towards markets which are growing faster than the world average. The analysis also shows that about half of its total increase in recent sales can be attributed to Australian competitiveness.
This, besides changes in its prices relative to competition, also includes elements such as its aggressive selling, dependability of delivery dates, terms of sale and general adaptation to market force.
On studying the potential growth of the Australian rice industry it was found that a significant expansion in Queensland, which at present supplies a minor share of total output, is unlikely, as sugar (which is a competing crop) will probably remain more profitable. Production of rice for export in the North is totally uneconomic owing to its present high cost structures. The region which has potential for expansion is New South Wales. This dominant grower can readily expand output by 10 per cent over the next 5 years but the salination problem of the Murray may preclude this. Thus strong competition from Australia to Burma and Thailand is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
The second objective is to analyse the causes of the decline in Burmese rice export volumes and also that of Thailand in the late 1960s using the same technical analysis as in the case of Australia. From the analysis it could be concluded that both Burmese and Thai rice have an unfavourable market distribution of their exports.
This study suggests Burma and Thailand should try to diversify their export outlets in order to increase their sales volume. They must also increase their competitiveness in world markets, especially Burma whose competitiveness is quite weak
