Myanmar rice is back
While exports of Cambodian rice have been booming, analysts are predicting that new competition from Myanmar could eventually rain on the parade. Cambodia exported nearly 176,000 tonnes of rice in the first six months of the year, a 125 per cent increase from the same period in 2012, when about 78,000 tonnes left the country. Most of that, or about 60 per cent, went to countries in the European Union, which grants Cambodia duty-free tariffs under its Everything But Arms agreement to provide opportunities for growth. … Before 1962, when the military that would rule for the next 50 years seized power, Myanmar was considered the world’s top rice exporter. … In the latest rice market monitor for April, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization downgraded its prediction for Myanmar rice exports this year from 600,000 to 500,000 tonnes, citing “limited processing capacity” and electricity shortages across the country. Though the FAO sees potential for Myanmar rice in Japan, a recent report from the United States Department of Agriculture says that India, which re-entered the export market in 2011, has moved in on Myanmar’s more traditional export partners Bangladesh, the Philippines and West Africa. …
