The Thai Rice Exporters Association on Wednesday said in a press briefing that Thailand's rice export prospects would not look too bright in the second half of the year amid sluggish global demand hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Overall Thai rice export activity has been quiet in July after the pandemic resulted in the collapse of Phoenix Commodities, the world's biggest commodity traders, said the Association's president Charoen Laothammatas.

"Phoenix was a trading partner of many Thai rice exporters, particularly those who ship rice to Africa," said Charoen, adding that the collapse had affected almost all rice exporters in Thailand.

The association president said that because of the collapse, many world leading rice buyers stopped buying rice for a month.

Phoenix also trades in grains, coal, metals and other commodities.

He also said that the strong Thai baht currency has led to a higher price of Thai rice.

The Thai Rice Exporters Association's July report indicated that in the first five months of this year, Thailand shipped a total of 2.57 million tons of rice, down 31.9 percent from the same period last year, with an export value of 54.16 billion baht (1.7 billion U.S. dollars), down 13.2 percent.

The top five rice importers from Thailand for the period were China, the United States, South Africa, Angola and Japan.