Rice exports to Thailand dive

Rice exports to Thailand plummeted in the first four months of the year as a result of that country’s surplus, which reached record levels at the end of 2013. Between January and April, Cambodia exported just 1,550 tonnes of rice to Thailand, down 89 per cent from the 14,250 tonnes shipped in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture’s monthly reports. Hun Lak, president of rice export firm Mekong Oryza Trade, said the decline was due to Thailand’s rice stockpiles, which were accumulated under a state purchasing program launched in 2011 and scrapped at the end of last year. Thailand accumulated rice stockpiles of reportedly more than 12.8 million tonnes at the end of 2013, equal to about a third of the global export market. …

Chan Muyhong
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/rice-exports-thailand-dive