RUSSIAN company Prod Gamma is set to order 20,000 tonnes of rice from Cambodia this year, a report released by the Cambodian Small and Medium Industries Association (CSMIA) stated Thursday.

Outh Renne, secretary general of the association, said that the company wants to order 10 percent broken rice from Cambodia at US$430 per tonne.

“We are negotiating the price with the Russian company and expect that we will reach an agreement soon,” Outh Renne said, and added that if an agreement is made, supply can begin in May.

As a trial, Prod Gamma bought 240 tonnes of rice from the CSMIA on April 11.

The CSMIA has exported 2,500 tonnes of rice to European markets since the beginning of the year.

The association plans to export another 1,200 tonnes in May. The group has also signed export agreements with companies from Germany, Lithuania and Latvia.

“We have a lot potential rice that is left over from local use for export. But we have exported only a small amount only because our rice is not yet known in international markets,” Outh Renne added.

Un Buntha, deputy director general of the General Department of Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Commerce, said on Thursday that Cambodia’s rice is gaining more interest on international markets as world demand for the grain is growing.

“We hope that with this world demand and the effort made by local rice producers, Cambodia will be able to export rice to international markets in larger amounts soon,” Un Buntha said.