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Thailand reports first case of Omicron BA.2.75 sub-variant
July 20, 2022
The Centre for Medical Genomics at Ramathibodi Hospital has reported the country’s first case of the COVID-19 Omicron BA.2.75 sub-variant infection, in the southern province of Trang.
The case was found among several specimens collected for the Department of Medical Sciences on June 28th. The department conducted genetic sequencing and uploaded the findings to the GISAID database on July 18th. It was identified as the BA.2.75 sub-variant.
This sub-variant was first detected in India in early June and has spread to several other countries including the United States. Scientists had decoded the matching genetic makeup in 338 cases by yesterday (Tuesday).
According to the centre, the BA.2.75 sub-variant can evade immunity more effectively than other sub-variants and become resistant to vaccines, which were developed from the Wuhan strain of the virus. It is suggested that any synthetic antibody medication to be administered to patients must be tailored to match with their virus strain of infection.
It was observed that the BA.2.75 sub-variant, which spread rapidly in India, has now subsided, probably because many people in the country, who had been infected by the BA.2 sub-variant, may have developed some immunity.
Two BA.2.75 sub-variant cases have been detected in Singapore, in two passengers arriving from India on July 17th. Asymptomatic, both are now in quarantine.
The centre noted that the BA.2 sub-variant did spread widely in Thailand, before the arrival of the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.
It also said that there is no clear evidence that BA.2.75 is more virulent or severe than the other Omicron sub-variants.
The price of Asia's main food has not been anything like the wild ride of other staples. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Thailand export earnings threatened by rice glut Opinions diverge over outlook as fertilizer shortages loom
RURIKA IMAHASHI and APORNRATH PHOONPHONGPHIPHAT, Nikkei staff writersJuly 25, 2022 06:02 JST
TOKYO/BANGKOK -- The surge in wheat and corn prices driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine hit consumers around the world and made it harder for some to put bread on the table. But some Asian countries are grappling with a contrasting problem: a glut of rice that threatens to deal a blow to their export earnings.
Thailand heads the list of nations confronted with the unexpected specter of overabundance thanks to favorable weather in Asia's paddy heartlands. The region's countries are now in a fierce rice price war as they seek buyers for their swelling stocks, but there are sharp divisions of opinion over where prices go from here.
"A good crop in several countries allowed key exporters, particularly India and Pakistan, to compete by offering at low prices," Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, told Nikkei Asia.
The price of Asia's main food has not been anything like the wild ride of other staples. At $420 per tonne, the benchmark 5% common grade Thai rice is trading within a few percentage points of where it was at the start of 2021 and shortly after the invasion this year. Intense price competition means buyers can get prices much lower than that on other rice.
Both wheat and corn prices soared more than 40% as grain exports from Ukraine's ports were blocked and India banned wheat exports to prioritize domestic amid hot weather that disrupted its own production. Talks to end the blockade and bumper crops elsewhere have brought prices down sharply in recent weeks but wheat is still up 15% from a year ago.
In contrast to its ban on wheat exports, India is trying to sell more rice overseas. The world's largest rice exporter sold an average of 22 million tonnes of rice over the past few years, almost half the world's rice trade.
The price competition is already fierce. According to traders, India can offer as low as $343 per tonne, well below $388 offered by Pakistan and $418 by Vietnam. Thailand offers prices in the $420s due to higher production costs.
"The Thai rice price was more than $80 per tonne higher than India and other competitors. That made it difficult for Thai exporters to compete with others," Charoen said, adding that world rice prices are expected to remain under pressure. Thailand is due to harvest its major crop in October, when around 24 million tonnes of paddy will be reaped.
"It would be another year of disaster as we don't know how deep rice prices will plunge," one exporter said. "That would force the Thai government to issue price intervention schemes to support farmers." For the government, which faces a general election next year, it is crucial to keep more than four million rice-farming families happy. The consequence is that exporters are unlikely to sell at lower world prices when prices are being propped up at home, reducing their share of the global market.
The quantity of rice in storage around this time of year has been historically high for several years, at more than one-third of annual demand. The decline in wheat and corn prices in recent weeks has cooled talk that rice may gain favor as an alternative, something that could have decreased elevated inventories.
Not everyone agrees rice prices will stay low, however, and several point to fertilizer shortages as a reason to expect an increase over time.
Russia is the world's biggest exporter of nitrogen, the second-largest of potassium, and third of phosphorous -- key ingredients of fertilizer, which is now harder and more expensive to obtain as a result of international sanctions.
Akio Shibata, president of the Natural Resource Research Institute in Japan, warned that Asia could not remain optimistic about its staple supply. "If fertilizer prices continue to rise and its supply disrupted, rice prices will likely follow that of wheat and corn," Shibata told Nikkei Asia.
Thailand, again, could be particularly vulnerable. Thai farmers typically rely on expensive chemical pesticides and fertilizers. It imports around four million tonnes of fertilizers annually.
That is different from rivals such as Vietnam and India. Vietnam has spent many years developing new rice strains and rice-growing techniques that help cut production costs, while India and Pakistan grow rice in vast areas with economies of scale and cheap labor costs.
As a result, the productivity of Thai rice remained low, with yield per rai (0.16 hectare) standing at 454 kilograms, well below Vietnam's 803 kilograms per rai. Disruption in fertilizer supply could further lower the productivity of Thai rice growers.
The government in June approved a plan to allow Thai and foreign investors to develop the country's first potash mine to enable the domestic production of fertilizer. However, it will take years before a mine is actually up and running.
David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, said fertilizer shortages could depress rice yields across the region and lead to a repeat of the 2007-2008 price spike that followed a drought in India and sent prices to $1,000 a tonne.
"Asia is going to be pounded with this fertilizer crisis, which is going to devastate rice harvest over the next 12 months," he said. "And when you look at how much progress has been made on reducing hunger in the world, primarily in Asia ... this could truly set back global food security."
Thai plant engineer makes high-energy biofuel on par with coal TTCL aims for $600 million in sales in 2030
Agricultural waste like corncobs and husks is turned into a high-energy biofuel at a TTCL plant.
YOHEI MURAMATSU, Nikkei staff writerJuly 27, 2022 05:13 JST
BANGKOK -- Thai engineering company TTCL has opened a plant to produce biomass fuel from agricultural waste like corncobs and husks as a greener alternative to coal in a country that still relies heavily on fossil fuels.
The facility in northern Thailand's Lampang Province uses a process known as torrefaction to produce a fuel with greater energy density than standard wood pellets. It is about on par with Indonesian coal, and also comparable in price under current market conditions, the company said.
These so-called black pellets can be burned alongside coal at power plants or factories using existing equipment with little modification. Biofuel is considered carbon neutral, as the plant matter it is made from absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows.
The facility, the cost of which is estimated in the millions of dollars, can make 7,500 tonnes of biofuel a year at present. Production is slated to go up to 75,000 tonnes annually next year. TTCL plans eventually to increase overall output to 2 million tonnes, including production outside Thailand.
TTCL will sell the pellets to local companies as well as Japanese businesses operating here, targeting $600 million in sales by 2030.
The biomass facility is part of a diversification effort by Bangkok-listed TTCL, which mainly builds petrochemical factories and power plants.
