Thailand
Cambodia: Rice exporters switch focus to serving demand from China
Cambodian rice exporters expect higher demand from China to make up for a drop in shipments to Europe, according to the head of the Cambodian Rice Federation.
The EU still wants to import more rice from the Kingdom, federation President Song Saran said, but high transportation costs and a lack of containers have made it difficult to ship rice there.
As a result, the federation is focusing on China as its main growth market.
“Rice exports to the Chinese market are still growing well,” he said. “They will increase even more in the near future.”
Saran said that the federation is not forcing members to increase their export volume at the moment because they may suffer losses. He said exporters need to focus on maintaining stable long-term shipments.
Rice exports in the first six months of 2021 were lower than the same period last year, Saran said. They were about the same as the first quarter of 2019 and higher than previous years, he said.
Sin Chanthy, president of the Cambodian Logistics Association, said that rice is a heavy commodity and needs to be stored in short containers. Most containers available at the moment are long types that cannot be used to transport rice over long distances, he said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50898294/rice-exporters-switch-focus-to-serving-demand-from-china/