News
Ministry skips meeting on rice-pledging crackdown
The initial meeting of state agencies intended to expedite cases related to the previous government’s rice-pledging scheme failed to proceed on October 10 after Finance Ministry staff did not show up. Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya, who was to chair the meeting, said he did not know why ...
China places first order for Thai rice under last Dec’s G2G deal
China has agreed to place the first purchase order for 100,000 tonnes of Thai rice under a government-to-government contract for a total of one million tonnes, which was signed last December. The order is for new-crop 5-per-cent white rice at a free-on-board price of US$399 per tonne ...
Ministry calls meet on rice scheme suspects
The Justice Ministry has invited anti-graft agencies to a meeting next week when it is expected to name the people to be probed in the 853 alleged corruption cases connected to the rice-pledging scheme. The Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission last week said it had received 853 ...
Bank trims rate to coax millers
The state-owned bank entrusted with extending $27 million in emergency loans to millers to purchase rice paddy has marginally lowered the interest rate on these conditional loans in an effort to shorten some of the strings attached. The Rural Development Bank announced late on September 25 that ...
Poor quality rice mills limit exports to China
Only the IDP Rice Mill in Savannakhet province is able to produce rice of sufficient quality to meet the standard required by Chinese buyers. There are many rice mills around the country but they are inefficient and the finished product is of low quality. Based on ...
Cash influx a band-aid for failing rice sector
As the government scrambles to buoy a rice sector suffering from crashing paddy prices and fierce international competition, Prime Minister Hun Sen on September 22 lauded the government officials and “generous businesspeople” who heeded calls for emergency funds. Falling from about $250 per ton in mid-August to ...
Vietnam's rice exports to decline sharply this year
Viet Nam hopes to export 1.6 million tonnes rice in the four remaining months of the year, raising exports for the year to 4.9 million tonnes, said the Viet Nam Food Association. According to a report the VFA tabled at a meeting held in southern An ...
PM weighs in on rice lending
Rice millers said on September 18 they welcomed the prime minister’s announcement that the government would make over $20 million in funds available shortly to support cash-strapped millers and prop up falling paddy prices.“We’ve been waiting for these loans for a long time like fish waiting ...
No sign of relief for rice industry
As the harvest season of Cambodia’s most important crop kicks off, a crisis is looming as both rice farmers and millers face crippling capital shortages and a promised industry lifeline has yet to materialise. Industry experts said on September 14 that these small farmers desperate to pay ...
Climate change could cause rice prices to nearly double by 2030: study
Climate change is threatening the Cambodian rice industry, and it is marginalised communities that will be worst affected unless the government takes action, according to a new study. The study’s authors, Sokuntheavy Hong and Jun Furuya, took historical climatic, socioeconomic and rice-yield data as their benchmark, ...
