European countries have emerged as the main buyers of Cambodian milled rice in January 2023, and the Kingdom is expecting an increase in shipment of the commodity this year.
Deciphering the January export data, Chan Sokheang, President of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), told Khmer Times, “We are expecting an increase of approximately 35-40 percent in rice exports to the European market in 2023.”
Twenty European countries accounted for around 48 percent of the total milled rice exported by Cambodia this January. They together imported 17,795 tons of Cambodian rice, worth more than $13.44 million, according to the CRF.
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Sokheang said, “The European market has now started to recognise the quality and the consistency of quality of the rice, we are shipping to them. I think a lot of Asian people are now living in European countries and they have started liking Cambodian rice.
“We have good quality and aroma, and we comply with the chemical residue standards of Europe.”
After staying around 203,280 tons in 2019 and about 203,861 tons in 2020, the rice export to Europe declined to 168,063 tons in 2021 only to jump back to 221,709 in the previous year.
Among European countries, France imported 6,170 tons of rice worth over $4.11 million, the Netherlands 2,357 tons valued at $2.31 million, the Czech Republic 2,287 tons, the United Kingdom 1,669 tons, Spain 1,137 tons, Germany 1,064 tons, Italy 1,011 tons, Portugal 494 tons and Greece 323 tons.
In January, more than 36,900 tons of milled rice, worth around $28.83 million, were shipped to global buyers by Cambodia.
Source: Khmer Times
