Thailand
Cambodia: Big drop in rice exports
Cambodia’s rice exports to international markets in August dropped drastically to 22,130 tonnes, according to the National Phytosanitary database of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Compared with August last year, they fell nearly 35 percent from 34, 032 tonnes.
However, in total Cambodia’s rice exports increased in the first eight months of the year saw a 31.05 percent rise in exports, reaching 448,203 tonnes from 342,045 tonnes in 2019.
Among the total rice exports, 352,802 tonnes were fragrant rice, white rice, 89,699 tonnes, parboiled rice 5,679 tonnes and the rest was 23 tonnes.
China is still the top market for Cambodian rice exports. Cambodia exported to China around 159,253 tonnes in the first eight months, followed by France at 56,964 tonnes. Among Asean countries, Malaysia imported about 23,201 tonnes from Cambodia, Vietnam 12,836 tonnes and Brunei 10,500 tonnes.
Song Saran, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), said floods and drought are now the major problems hitting farmers and affecting the Kingdom’s food security and exports after drought left much land in the northwest dry and cracked.
“September would likely drop 20 percent. It is because of climate change affecting our main fragrant rice export (Sen Kra Ob Jasmine rice). But our target of 800,000 tonnes in exports is still in place. We will strongly rebound in October if the harvest is good. The CRF will conduct another review on rice exports again by mid-September,” Saran said.
He added that generally the Sen Kro Ob variety was harvested in mid-July, but now fewer farmers are harvesting because their crops were damaged or some can be harvested but the quality and yield are lower.
He said that the harvest will be delayed for about two months because farmers now have to replant the paddy, so they will harvest it in October and November. “In August, our exports dropped around 30 percent and 20 percent in September,” he said. “We found flooding in September and October is also a major issue for farmers. It is a concern because we have a market but no paddy for processing to export,” he added.
Saran said that the lower reaches of the Mekong River are also a concern for the farmers along Tonle Sap Lake.
The CRF has also asked the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) to release more funds and requested an extension to the loan cycle repayments, blaming an adjustment in the harvest season.
“We are now facing climate change and that is making us miss the harvest seasonal target, so we need a longer loan cycle that will make it easier for rice millers to have time to collect rice paddy at a fair price,” Saran said.
Kao Thach, general director of the state-run ARDB, said the bank has yet to make a decision. “Because it is a government fund, we need to submit the request to the government for approval,” he said. Thach said previously the private sector that provided loans needed them paid back during May and June each year.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50759582/big-drop-in-rice-exports/