Thai rice exports rose to 1.4 million tonnes in the first two months of 2014, up 40% from the same period in 2013, Oryza.com reported on Tuesday.

At this rate, total rice exports in 2014 could jump 27% to 8.4 million tonnes over 2013, according to Oryza, a site for global rice news, research and analysis.

The country shipped 709,832 tonnes of rice in February 2014, up 2% from 696,558 tonnes in the previous month and up 66% year-on-year, according to data from Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA).

Total exports in February consisted of white rice (304,140 tonnes), hom mali (108,563), broken rice (94,373), glutinous rice (15,057), parboiled rice (178,057) and brown) rice (9,642), the exporters' group said.

February's exports earned 12.23 billion baht, down 1% from 12.37 billion baht in January 2014, and up 30% from 9.43 billion baht in February 2013. In dollar terms, they earned $378 million, up 0.4% month-on-month and 19% year-on-year.

According to TREA, the average price of white rice increased to $405.23 a tonne, up 5% from the levels in January 2013 while the hom mali price rose 3% to  $1,089.40. The average price of broken rice declined 9% to  $375.75 from January 2013 while that of glutinous rice grew 3% to $878.68.

The average price of parboiled rice climbed 2% to $464.75 per ton from January 2013 while that of brown rice fell 7% to $570.66.

The Thai government sold 1 million tonnes of rice from its stockpiles in March.It plans to keep the sales at that level to raise 8 billion baht every month. Current stocks in government warehouses are estimated at 10 million tonnes, according to local sources.