Cambodia's Q1 cassava exports surge by 30%; exports already reach above US$285 million

 

PHNOM PENH, May 1 (Phnom Penh Post/ANN): Cambodia's cassava and tapioca starch exports in the first quarter of 2023 reached $285 million, an increase of nearly 30 per cent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

From January to March, the export total for fresh cassava was 155,210 tonnes, of which 131,710 tonnes were shipped to Vietnam and 23,500 tonnes to Thailand.

Of the more than 14,701 tonnes of tapioca starch exported, a total of 14,642 tonnes went to China, followed by Japan with more than 25 tonnes, Italy at 17 tonnes and India at 17 tonnes.

During the period, 38,252 tonnes of cassava pulp was exported, of which 30,500 tonnes went to Vietnam, another 7,100 tonnes went to Thailand, and 652 tonnes went to China.

Heng Sith, statistics officer at the Battambang provincial agriculture department, said on April 27 that the bulk of the cassava exported in early 2023 had been harvested last year. He said farmers have to save “cassava seeds” – stem cuttings and tuberous roots used for cassava propagation – for planting next year, while cassava typically takes 10 months to a year to reach maturity.

“At the beginning of this year, Battambang province harvested only about 10 to 20 per cent of the total area of more than 100,000ha of cassava. The remaining cassava had been harvested the previous year.

“The cassava that farmers are still selling today is cassava seed, and only in small amounts. The current price of cassava chips is 600 to 700 riel per kilogramme,” he said.