Agricultural commodities, processing and products

Cambodia’s Kampot pepper, a go-to spice for chefs around the world, has joined an elite group of gourmet food items whose names are protected by the European Union, joining products such as Gruyere cheese from France and Parma ham from Italy. ...

Japan may import cassava and rubber from Cambodia and investors from the country are considering building processing plants for the two commodities here, according to a senior official at the Agriculture Ministry. ...

Cambodian rubber producers expect global prices will recover this year after the four leading-rubber producing countries agreed to cut their supply to the global market over the next six months to boost prices. ...

About half of the country’s rice millers and exporters went out of business last year and those clinging on are likely to follow suit within two years unless the government injects capital into the sector and takes measures to curb the flood of imported rice ...

The Ministry of Agriculture has played down the results of a study that found high levels of arsenic in some samples of locally grown rice. ...

The falling price of rice in Asia due to the slowing global economy and intensifying regional competition is taking a toll on Cambodian exporters and farmers even though exports jumped more than 20 percent last month compared to January last year, executives said. ...

Although over half of its rice exports were to China last year, it remains a highly competitive market amongst other rice exporters, namely Thailand, Pakistan, and Cambodia, said Bui Huy Hoang, Vietnam’s commercial counselor in China. ...

The government will consider suspending its $50 per ton export duty on rubber following lobbying by local producers who say they are operating at a loss due to the sharp fall in global prices for the commodity, Agriculture Ministry secretary of state Eang Sophalleth said ...

The tonnage of Cambodia’s agricultural exports increased by over 20 per cent last year, led by a surge in shipments of dried cassava chips, according to the latest Ministry of Agriculture data. ...

Australian banking giant ANZ has come under fire for its response to a scandal over its financing of a sugar plantation previously linked to forced evictions and child labour in Kampong Speu province. ...

A fire burned through 45 hectares of sugarcane plantation belonging to three companies in Svay Rieng province’s Svay Tiep district on Tuesday, with one company representative suspecting that the fire was intentionally set. ...

Almost a year after cassava producers in Pailin were fingered as the source of pollution in a local water source, little has been done to address the problem, commune officials said yesterday, while affected villagers are being forced to buy bottled water to avoid getting ...

The Cambodia Rice Federation yesterday raised fresh concerns about the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA), after an online rice-industry portal said the deal will scrap import duties on about 80,000 tons of rice from Vietnam per year and that this could start this year. ...

Cambodian rice exports are finding new markets and rising demand in ASEAN this year, but officials and exporters are not linking this to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), saying it was too early to tell what impact the regional trade bloc – which took effect ...

Cambodian trade officials are urging their Chinese counterparts to boost imports of Cambodian rubber, cassava, sugar and pepper to narrow the trade imbalance between the two countries, officials said after a meeting last week. ...

A Chinese-owned agricultural company will inaugurate a $360 million sugar mill in northern Cambodia next month, in what is being billed as one of Asia’s largest sugar processing facilities. ...

At the close of the three-day annual Cambodia Rice Forum, Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol on Tuesday suggested that the first-rate rice brand set to be launched on the international market this year be marketed as “Extra Premium” jasmine rice. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen is pushing government institutions and businesses to improve the country’s rice production. Investment is required in machinery and warehouses to dry and store rice for export, something Cambodia is discussing with China, Hun Sen said. ...

Cambodia’s rice industry faces a ple­thora of challenges—both internal and external—that have led to low prices and prevented ex­porters from achieving a lofty tonnage target set by the government in 2010, Prime Minister Hun­ Sen said on Monday. ...

A farmer from Battambang province took this year’s honor of growing the country’s top rice paddy on Sunday as industry heavyweights gathered in Phnom Penh for the first of the three-day Cambodia Rice Forum. ...

Cambodian cassava farmers are facing dropping prices in the agro commodity this season, as the lack of a domestic market and dependence on exports, which faces competition from neighbouring countries, has led them to call for government intervention. ...

Five years after setting out an ambitious 1 million-tonne milled rice export target, the rice sector fell well short of the mark last year, exporting close to 550,000 tonnes, with industry experts cautiously optimistic over export increases in 2016. ...

A $300 million sugarcane processing factory will begin producing sugar in Preah Vihear province next month and it is being described as the world’s largest such factory, according to reports in local media. ...

The Ministry of Commerce announced last week a $400 million proposal by three Chinese firms to build state-run rice warehousing facilities to increase the Kingdom’s storage capacity. ...