Cambodia earned $564m from rice exports in the first five-month of 2022

Cambodia earned $564m from rice exports in the January-May period this year – $173 million from milled rice exports and $391 million from paddy rice, according to a report from the Cambodia Rice Federation. In the first five-month period, Cambodia exported 283,675 tonnes of milled rice through 53 exporting companies, read the report. China remained the top buyer of Cambodia’s rice, followed by the European Union, the CRF said in a news release, adding that export to China accounted for 52.6 percent of the total rice exports. The Kingdom exported 88,167 tonnes to the European countries, representing 31 percent of total export, an increase of 49.26 percent compared to the same period last year, read the report. Exports to Asean countries rose by 17.59 percent to 25,691 tonnes, equivalent to nine percent, added the report, citing that exports to various destinations in 21 countries reached 20,376 tonnes or 7.20 percent. Of the milled rice export, premium fragrant rice accounted 64.10 percent, white fragrant rice 33.12 percent, and parboiled rice and organic rice 1.42 percent. Cambodia also exported 1,698,908 tonnes of paddy rice, valued at $391.7 million. In May this year alone, the country exported 62,537 tonnes of rice, an increase of 54.28 percent compared to May 2021. The price of Cambodia’s premium rice is currently $840 per tonne. Lun Yeng, Secretary-General of the Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF), said that the CRF has boosted the exports of rice to international markets, especially Europe, despite rising shipping costs. “For the remaining months this year, we expect that the export of commodities will continue as usual despite the transport fee hike because our rice is mostly premium rice and our markets – the EU, China and Asean – have remained stable,” Yeng told Khmer Times. Yeng said the price of the commodity is predicted to increase between 10 and 20 percent due to the threat of the prolonging Russia-Ukraine war and the rise in the cost of inputs used for rice production. This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources. Khmer Daily