VNHN - Cambodia's rice exports fell 13 percent year on year in the first 11 months of 2018, according to a report by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality of Cambodia.
An employee points to a stack of rice for an order at a rice warehouse in Phnom Penh. Source: phnompenhpost.com
The country shipped abroad 497,240 tonnes of the grain in January-November, down from 562,237 tonnes in the same period last year.
Hun Lak, Vice President of the Cambodian Rice Federation, attributed the fall in the country’s exports to a lack of stockpiles during the harvest season and price competition with neighbouring countries.
He explained that local farmers tend to sell their raw rice to traders from neighbouring countries for quick cash.
A total of 78 firms have sold the country's rice to 61 countries and regions across the world. China is still the top buyer of Cambodian rice, followed by France, the Netherlands, Poland and Britain, the report said.
Cambodia produced about 10.5 million tonnes of paddy rice in 2017, up 5.7 percent year-on-year, according to its Ministry of Agriculture./.
