Some of Cambodia’s biggest exporters have experienced a sizeable decline in milled-rice shipments this month, with one insider putting the number as high as 40 per cent year-on-year.
The waning figure stands in stark contrast to last year’s milled-rice export numbers, which increased about 22 per cent year-on-year in 2011, according to Ministry of Commerce data.
Prices for premium milled rice in Pakistan, India and Vietnam had fallen far below Cambodian prices this month, Mega Green Imex Cambodia managing director Outh Renne said.
That decline rendered the Kingdom uncompetitive on international markets even with the duty-free preference it enjoyed in the European Union, he said.
Cambodian rice prices have suffered wild fluctuations since the product was first exported about two years ago, according to Outh Renne.
The changes in price, which have moved by more than US$100 a tonne during the past year, had stalled long-term rice contracts, he said…
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012012554123/Business/milled-rice-exports-drop-in-january.html
