PHNOM PENH, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 448,203 tons of milled rice in the first eight months of 2020, up 31 percent over the same period last year, Ngin Chhay, director general of agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, said on Monday.
China remained the biggest buyer of Cambodian rice, he said in a report, adding that the kingdom shipped 159,253 tons of milled rice to China during the January-August period this year, up 19.8 percent over the same period last year.
He added that the country also exported 149,848 tons to the European market during the period, up 24.8 percent, and 60,933 tons to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market, up 42 percent.
The Southeast Asian nation has exported rice to 59 countries and regions during the period, Chhay said.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic has driven high demand for Cambodian rice, predicting that the country's rice export to the international market is expected to reach 800,000 tons in 2020.
Cambodia produced about 10 million tons of paddy rice last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. With this amount, the kingdom saw paddy rice surplus of about 5.6 million tons in equivalent to 3.5 million tons of milled rice. Enditem
