PHNOM PENH: According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture , Cambodia exported more than 7.3 million tons of agricultural products to 75 markets in the first 11 months of 2023. The country brought in nearly $4 billion US, a decrease of 4.6% when compared to the same period in 2022.

Among the largest agricultural exports were more than 2 million tons of unmilled rice, up 28.7%, followed by more than 1.4 million tons of fresh cassava, up 10.80% according to the Ministry. The Kingdom also exported more than 1 million tons of dried cassava slices and nearly 600,000 tons of milled rice, up 6.5%. More than 400,000 tons of cashew nuts were exported, down 10.1%.

The Ministry gave several reasons for the decline including the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has affected global trade flows and increased interest rates, the tense Chinese real estate market and the Russian war in Ukraine, which has greatly affected global economic growth, especially in countries that rely mainly on exports, such as Cambodia.

The price of rice in Cambodia is still high, leading to a large number of mills buying less rice and refusing to keep large stocks of it. The Ministry said that exports of rice without phytosanitary certificates to Vietnam are still soaring.