International Business News – According to Song Sarun, president of the Cambodian Rice Federation, China has been the largest importer of Cambodian rice for four consecutive years since 2019 to 2022. It predicts that China will remain the most important export market for Cambodian rice in the next five years.
According to Song Sarun, China’s large import of Cambodian rice will help Cambodia achieve its goal of exporting 1 million tons of rice per year.
From 2019 to 2021, Cambodian rice exports to China will be 240,000 tons (40% of total exports), 280,000 tons (50.2% of total exports), and 300,000 tons (50.2% of total exports), respectively.
In addition, in the first half of 2022, Cambodia exported more than 160,000 tons of rice to China, accounting for 51.4 percent of the total export volume.
Song Sarun said that Cambodia and China have signed six memorandums of understanding on cooperation regarding China’s purchase of Cambodian rice, which in turn has led to a steady increase in Cambodian rice exports to China.
Song Sarun pointed out that from the previous export data, Cambodia’s export to the EU market will not exceed 300,000 tons due to the limited market demand in Europe. For the Chinese market, the export volume of Cambodian rice can reach 600,000 to 1 million tons. In terms of trade and politics, both China and Cambodia maintain solidarity and mutual assistance, which helps to push Cambodian rice to export more to China.
In the first seven months of 2022, Cambodian rice exports amounted to 350,902 tons and $218.17 million, of which 169,766 tons were exported to China with an export value of $89.09 million, according to a report by the Cambodian Rice Federation.