Perceptive

The main news is as always: facts and figures. And financial gains. 

So how is Cambodia faring export wise? 
The Phnom Penh Post (Jul. 8):

'Cambodia exported more rice to China than the EU for the first time during the first half of this year, a report from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality said.

The report shows that the Kingdom’s rice exports during the first six months of this year amounted to 281,538 tonnes – up 3.7 per cent from the same period last year.

Among the 50 export destinations during the period, the Kingdom exported 118,401 tonnes to China or 42.06 per cent. The EU, which was the leading market for Cambodian rice exports, imported 93,503 tonnes (33 per cent), the report said.

Cambodia exported a total of 626,255 tonnes of rice last year, of which 43 per cent, or 269,127 tonnes, was exported to the EU while some 17,000 tonnes (27 per cent) was exported to China'.

And there's mention made of seeking newer markets. Again, the Phnom Penh Post (Jul. 12):

'Cambodia plans to export rice to African markets through South Korean companies, as its EU market share showed signs of drop in the first half of this year.

In addition to the Chinese market, the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) expects exports to Africa to help fill the EU market share, said its secretary-general Moul Sarith.

The CRF met George Kim J H, the CEO of South Korean manufacturer JS Global Corporation and many other South Korean government small- and medium-enterprise agents on Wednesday to explore opportunities to export Cambodian rice to African markets'.

Khmer Times (Jul. 10) has an extensive article on the pro's and cons of the use of the EU Everything But Arms (EBA) deal used to punish those regimes deemed worthy of sanctions.
On the one hand, we have a so-called democratically elected government being punished, whereas all it's neighbours are beyond redemption and somehow escape the same downward spirally measures. 
Note that the EBA measures have impacted Cambodia's trade in rice with Europe.
Snippets from the article:

'Indeed, the withdrawal of EBA from Cambodia poses more harm than good, and will undermine the influence of the west in the Kingdom.
...
In fact, economic sanctions are proven to be less effective and hard to spark the regime change these sanctions are often perceived to inculcate in an academic sense, particularly since it comes at the expense of civilians and their livelihood.
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Economic sanctions on Cambodia will sour the influence of the European Union and consequently push the Kingdom closer to China.
In response to the potential suspension of EBA and the recent tariff imposed on the Kingdom’s rice export to the EU market, China has promised Cambodia with four billion yuan in aid and pledged to import 400,000 tonnes of rice, giving Cambodia’s government, alternative sources of development aid and loans to withstand the impacts of economic sanctions.
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The primary concern is the Chinese debt-trap diplomacy which has sparked international headlines. Though, Cambodia’s government claims the current debt is manageable, the Kingdom’s debts to China is nevertheless perceived to be at a level where perception has set in that Beijing may take advantage of this situation to put in place a certain degree of political influence on Cambodian affairs.
Having strategic control over Cambodia’s economic corridor, including the Kingdom’s major logistic and tourist hub, China may not hesitate to gamble for the influence over Cambodia to protect its interests. These will certainly pose significant threats to security interests and economic powers of the European Union and its alliance in the long run'.

Worry
Back to the rice market.
On the demand side, as always things are improving. The Phnom Penh Post (Jun. 21):

'Cambodia signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract on the “Promotion of Paddy Production and Rice Exports Project” with Chinese state-owned company CITIC Construction Co Ltd to build rice storage facilities and drying silos in strategic locations in the Kingdom, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said'.

Looking at organics, there's this, likewise from the Phnom Penh Post (Jun. 28):

'Amru Rice (Cambodia) Co Ltd, a local rice exporter and leading organic paddy producer, signed a more than $15 million loan agreement with the International Finance Corporation on Wednesday.

The firm plans to expand its organic milled rice exports to 50,000 tonnes a year, its CEO Song Saran said.

Saran told The Post on Thursday that the loan would be used to expand milled rice warehouses, drying silos, as well as to strengthen its packing standards, processing, quality and safety, and to increase capital to purchase paddy.

...

Saran said the company plans to export 20,000 tonnes of organic milled rice to the EU, US, China and Hong Kong this year, and 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes next year.

“We have been working on organic paddy for three to four years, and we have reached a commercial level, so it requires us to invest and expand business in compliance with the standards. We have nothing to worry about,” he said.

Saran said in the first six months of this year, the company exported more than 4,000 tonnes of organic milled rice, earning nearly $4 million. It expects to export 10,000 tonnes by the end of the year'.

Whereas Cambodia's exports are edging up, Reuters (Jul. 10) mentions the opposite for neighbouring Thailand:

'Thailand’s rice exports fell by 12% in the first half of 2019 hurt by a strong baht, and will likely fall short of this year’s target of 9.5 million tonnes, an exporter group said on Wednesday.

The country has been struggling to export rice at a time when the Thai baht is Asia’s best performing currency and is trading near its strongest in more than six years at 30.81 against the U.S. dollar'.

Palette
Other crops, other issues. The Khmer Times (Jun. 24) looks at mango business:

'Cambodia expects to export its first shipment of mangoes to South Korea in October following an agreement signed between both countries in 2015'.

China is also on the offering, so it seems. The Khmer Times (Jun. 17):

'Cambodia has urged China to speed work on phytosanitary requirements to greenlight exports of Cambodian mangoes'.

Rubber. The Khmer Times (Jun. 17):

'The price of rubber has fallen markedly in recent months due to a slowdown in demand in international markets, particularly China.

The commodity currently fetches $1,300 per tonne in the local market, a drop of more than $100 compared to last year, according to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture.

This is bad news for investors in the Cambodian rubber sector, said Lim Heng, vice president of An Mady Group, a company that owns a rubber plantation and exports the product.

...

Prime Minister Hun Sen last week called on farmers and investors to keep rubber plantation amid the fall in prices.

“The price of rubber is declining, but I would like to ask farmers to now follow what seems to be the trend. Some farmers are cutting down their rubber trees and replacing them with cashew trees. When the price of cashew nuts decline, they will be forced to cut down these trees and find a new crop, incurring a large cost in labour,” Mr Hun Sen said.

An Mady’s Mr Heng said the price of rubber will remain stable until next year. “At the current price, existing rubber investors may be able to stay in business, but attracting new investors will be difficult.

“Without a new policy that gives more incentives, investors won’t dare come in. They will sit and wait until conditions improve.”

More negatives. For cassava growers; potentially. The Khmer Times (Jul. 3):

'The Ministry of Agriculture is calling for stricter border controls after 12 provinces recently reported cases of the mosaic virus in cassava plantations, according to a ministry official.

...

On a Facebook post this week, Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon also called for stricter controls and checks on sanitary and phytosanitary requirements. He asked importers to buy cassava from trusted sources and asked farmers to inform officials of any case involving the virus'.

Not all alternatives are a plus. The RFA (Jul. 3) looks at Laos' struggle with the banana plantations:

'This new plantation is the latest sign that the business of cultivating bananas in Laos for the Chinese market – widely discredited because of the impact of the excessive use of chemicals on the environment and health – is alive and kicking.
...
The central government, however, maintains that a January 2017 ban on new banana plantations remains in force, forbidding such plantations. The prohibition was prompted by concerns about chemical run-off and reports of sickened farm laborers.
“The government strictly maintains a ban on new banana farms in Laos and will punish those who violate the rules,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Bounkhouang Khambounheuang told RFA, adding that unauthorized plantations will have their operations “put on hold or shut down.”
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But the reality is that in recent months local officials around Laos have granted concessions for new banana plantations in provinces that include Xayabury, Oudomxay and Borikhamxay. RFA has also learned that a substantial area in the southern province of Attapeu is being used for banana plantations--including land slated for villagers displaced by the deadly July 2018 collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam.

...

In late May, Laos’ state-run Vientiane Times newspaper reported that bananas were expected to be Laos' top agricultural export in 2019 despite the government’s ban on the expansion of plantations around the country. It cited a Ministry of Industry and Commerce forecast that exports would rise to $168 million in 2019, up from $112 million in 2018'. 

Finally, The Nation (Jun. 15) looks at issues surrounding fresh organic produce and fresh (wet) markets in Thailand:

'But hygiene remains an issue because these markets are not well regulated. In her study using data from the Bangkok Food Sanitation Office, Premkamol found that only 350 of the 1,120 markets in the city were regulated. In the rest there are no official checks on standards or hygiene. 

...

A study by Oxfam Thailand found that modern trade outlets, such as large supermarkets and hypermarts, have also started carrying organic products in response to demand, said Theerawit Chainarongsophon, who works in private-sector engagement at Oxfam. 

...

“This is an unfair and unbalanced distribution of the benefits,” Theerawit said. 

Oxfam Thailand found similar data when studying the distribution of income in Thailand’s shrimp industry. It discovered that up to 30 per cent of earnings went to modern-trade operators, while producers were given so little that they suffered food insecurity themselves. 

...

Kingkorn [Kingkorn Narintarakul Na Ayutthaya, BioThai’s deputy director.] said the trend is growing in the Asia region mainly because so many people live in cramped cities. “This type of trade could even kill fresh markets,” she said. 

Food-security advocates and economists say that, although markets and modern outlets have decided to put clean food on their shelves, they still ignore the mainstay of organic food – sustainable agriculture and fair trade – which is leaving farmers at the source of the food chain hungry. 

They blame the trend on consumers’ drive to be healthier. In their hunger for clean food, few people think about the producers who are critical to the food chain and its sustainability. 

Independent economist Sarinee Achavanuntakul, founder of Sal Forest – a company that promotes sustainable business growth – said her research shows there are different terms used to define organic products and “health food”, and the market values of these two categories are vastly different. 

For instance, she said, organic products generated around Bt1 billion last year, while health food earned Bt170 billion – a clear reflection on consumption trends and perception. 

She said the biggest challenge for clean products and markets was maintaining their value at competitive levels'.