Against the Grain
On the palm-studded plains of Cambodia, rice farmers’ eyes light up with the prospect of sending their crop northward to China. The poor Southeast Asian nation had been trying for several years to export rice to the mainland but only last year did it gain approval from Chinese regulators to start shipments. Since then, the amount of rice Cambodia has shipped to China has skyrocketed. Although negligible in the international rice trade, the country exported more than 12,000 tons of rice to China in the first four months of the year, double the full-year total for 2012. Cambodian farmers have capitalized on a trend that surprised – even alarmed – rice traders at the end of 2011. Chinese rice imports jumped about 230% that year, and in 2012 it became the world’s second-largest rice importer. Next year, the USDA predicts China will overtake Nigeria for the No. 1 spot. …
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/china-rice-demand-market-import
