Cambodia's rice export up 38 pct in 7 months

Cambodia exported 426,073 tons of milled rice in the first seven months of 2020, up 38 percent from 308,013 tons over the same period last year, Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon said on Friday.

China remained the biggest buyer of Cambodian rice, he said, adding that the kingdom shipped 155,327 tons of milled rice to China during the January-July period this year, up 26 percent over the same period last year.

He added that the kingdom also exported 144,247 tons to the European market during the period, up 38 percent, and 57,064 tons to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market, up 44 percent.

In sum, the kingdom's rice exports to all destinations during the first seven months of this year were on the rise, the minister said, adding that the Southeast Asian nation shipped rice to 57 countries and regions.

Ngin Chhay, director general of agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, said recently that the COVID-19 pandemic had driven high demand for Cambodian rice.

He predicted that the country's rice export to the international market is expected to reach 800,000 tons in 2020, an estimated rise of 29 percent from 620,106 tons last year.

Cambodia produced about 10 million tons of paddy rice last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. With this amount, the kingdom saw paddy rice surplus of about 5.6 million tons in equivalent to 3.5 million tons of milled rice.

Editor: Wang Shixue