More competition from Thai millers
Thai government proposals to pay above market prices to rice farmers could complicate Cambodia’s goal of becoming a major milled rice exporter, according to industry insiders. Pheu Thai party leader Yingluck Shinawatra has announced plans to buy rough rice for a guaranteed price of 15,000 baht (US$505) a tonne, more than 50 percent above current rates. The price hike could send Thai rice millers and exporters looking into neighbouring countries such as Cambodia for paddy to process and export, say Cambodian millers. Cambodia has targeted exports of 1 million tonnes of processed rice by 2015. Ministry of Commerce statistics show the Kingdom exported 80,442 tonnes in the first half of this year.
