Cambodia exported more rice to China than the EU for the first time during the first half of this year, a report from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality said.
The report shows that the Kingdom’s rice exports during the first six months of this year amounted to 281,538 tonnes – up 3.7 per cent from the same period last year.
Among the 50 export destinations during the period, the Kingdom exported 118,401 tonnes to China or 42.06 per cent. The EU, which was the leading market for Cambodian rice exports, imported 93,503 tonnes (33 per cent), the report said.
Cambodia exported a total of 626,255 tonnes of rice last year, of which 43 per cent, or 269,127 tonnes, was exported to the EU while some 17,000 tonnes (27 per cent) was exported to China.
After the EU imposed tariffs on rice imported from Cambodia, China agreed in January to increase its import quota for Cambodian rice to 400,000 tonnes this year from the previous 300,000 tonnes.
Amru Rice (Cambodia) Co Ltd CEO Song Saran said Cambodian rice exports have mostly increased due to heightened demand for Jasmine rice, which accounts for 85 per cent of total rice exports.
“We are not focusing much on quantity, but rather on the quality of exports, which can bring us higher profits,” he said.
Cambodia’s first-grade fragrant rice sells for about $930 per tonne on the international market while second-grade rise costs about $760. White rice is sold at between $360 and $450 per tonne, said Saran.
He said rice exports will increase in the second half of this year if the export volume to China reaches the 400,000-tonne quota provided by their government.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Seang Thay said the ministry and the relevant sectors are striving to open more markets for the Kingdom’s rice. He said the authorities have reduced the bureaucracy in the sector.
“Setting up warehouses and drying silos is all part of the government’s strategy to encourage more rice exports,” he said.
