Cambodia exported $4.037 billion in agricultural products in 2020, according to data from the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The exports included milled rice, rice paddy production, cassava, cashew nuts, mango, rubber, banana, Pailin longan, pepper, birds’ nests, fisheries products, animal products, forestry products, and other goods.
Veng Sakhon, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries shared a number of sub-category export totals as well.
The year’s agriculture exports included $61.30 million in animal production. This category includes cattle, pork and poultry as well as chicken and duck eggs and other animals.
More than $8.33 million in fishery products exports were also recorded in 2020. Those products included river and marine fish products and aquaculture.
Exports of forestry products (processed timber), birds’ nests, leather products and live monkeys, totalled $44.08 million in value for the year.
The nation exported $482.76 million in rubber and rubber trees, which broke down as 340,000 tonnes of rubber and 158,400 cubic metres of rubber tree.
Cambodia also exported $2.17 billion in subsidiary crops (cassava, cashew nuts, mangoes, banana, Pailin longan, pepper and other crops).
The 2020 volume of exports in subsidiary crops was 7.2 million tonnes of cassava, 230,981 tonnes of cashew nuts, 947,628 tonnes of fresh mangoes, 333,143 tonnes of bananas, 102,280 tonnes of longan, 5,079 tonnes of pepper with other crops accounting for 555,706 tonnes in shipments.
Ngoun Lay, president of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association, said more than 60 tonnes of pepper were exported to foreign markets, including the EU, the US, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. He added that the total production of Kampot pepper this year was around 80 tonnes. Lay also said that some pepper remains in stock.
“During the early harvest season, the market for Kampot pepper seemed to be stable and companies have already started contracting with the association,” Lay said.
“We expect that next year orders will increase by more than 60 tonnes. Meanwhile, we are strengthening pepper production to ensure its quality and to supply the market,” he said.
The price of white pepper stands at $28 per kilo, red pepper at $25 per kilo and black pepper at $15 per kilo.
The agriculture minister noted that of the nation’s approximate 3.4 million hectares of paddy fields, more than 3.26 million hectares were in harvest, yielding a 3.34 tonnes average/hectare.
Sakhon added that 2020’s total paddy production was 10.93 million tonnes, sufficient to afford the nation a surplus of 5.9 million tonnes of paddies.
Cambodia exported 690,829 tonnes of milled rice with a total value of $538.8 million this year, an increase of 11.4 percent over 2019’s numbers. Exports of rice paddy reached 2.89 million tonnes for 2020 with a total value of $723.48 million.
China imported 289,439 tonnes of milled rice, which represents some 41.9 percent of total Cambodian rice exports. The EU followed with 203,791 tonnes (29.5 percent), the Asean nations with 86,899 tonnes (12.58 percent) and the remaining 110,700 tonnes (16.02 percent) were sent to 29 other countries.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
