In its report, the USDA said milled production of rice in 2018-19 is forecast at 5.623 million tonnes, up from 5.460 million tonnes in 2017-18 and compared with 5.256 million tonnes in 2016-17. Harvested area also is forecast to rise, to 3.290 million hectares in 2018-19, up from 3.21 million hectares in 2017-18 and 3.095 million hectares in 2016-17.
On the trade front, rice exports in Cambodia are forecast at 1.4 million tonnes in 2018-19, up from 1.3 million tonnes in 2017-18 and 1.25 million tonnes in 2016-17, the USDA said.
“In the past three years, many traditional export markets such as France, Poland, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands have reached saturation or have declined,” the USDA noted in the GAIN report. “In MY 2016-17, benefiting from the preferential tax exemption under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme, Cambodia exported 276,805 tonnes of rice to the E.U., accounting for 43.54% of total Cambodian exports. However, a recent complaint by Italy to the European Commission in late 2017 looks to reduce exports to this important market. Italy has claimed that rice imported from Cambodia and Myanmar has caused injury to domestic industry and has called for safeguard measures. Local media has reported that the E.U. initiated an investigation in accordance with the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) on March 16, 2018.”
Total consumption of rice in Cambodia is forecast at 4.218 million tonnes in 2018-19, up from 4.168 million tonnes in 2017-18 and compared with 4.074 million tonnes in 2016-17.
