Cambodian Jasmine Rice is now available in Seattle, Washington, USA

A reader sent us the following information about the availability of Cambodian Jasmine Rice in Seattle, Washington, USA:

Cambodian Jasmine Rice at $33.99
Available now at New Golden Village Market - Cambodian Grocery Store
9810 14th Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98106
206-859-1504/ 206-724-9049/ 206-854-4639

Rice Husks Provide Alternative to Chinese Coal in Cambodia

Rice husk generator (Photo: Acumen Fund investee, Husk Power Systems)

Thursday, December 16, 2010
By Jenara Nerenberg
Fast Company

The Cambodian rice miller and exporter, Angkor Kasekam Roongroeung (AKR), is set to launch its rice husk-powered electricity generator at the start of next year, enabling the company to double its rice exports to 70,000 tons per year.

Electricity from the newly-built rice husk generator will be used to--you guessed it--process rice.

The plant comes with community perks, too. AKR will sell its excess electricity to nearby villagers at $0.22 cents per kilowatt, lower than the $0.27 per kilowatt price they would normally pay for power from the national grid.

“We will take this opportunity to process more rice for export in an attempt to help our rice producers earn more income,” said AKR director, Chieu Hieng, as reported by the Pnom Penh Post.

The innovative power source is a welcome addition. Cambodia spent $59 million last year importing electricity from Thailand and Vietnam and is currently co-constructing a coal-fired plant with China at a cost of $362 million. Concerns are being raised about Cambodia's increasing demand for power and the trend toward using eco-un-friendly coal-fired power.

And like other developing countries in Asia--such as Nepal, with its vast Himalayan-sourced rivers and significant dependence on Chinese and Indian investment--the natural resources for natively-generated power exist domestically, but the country lacks the necessary funds for infrastructure development.

Rice husk generators could become a replicable trend in Cambodia. Already, Golden Rice Cambodia is investing $2 million into a rice-husk power plant to power nearby mills. AKR's total cost for its plant was $6 million, including the land.

Cambodia a new Hom Mali [rice] rival [to Thailand]

13/12/2010
WALAILAK KEERATIPIPATPONG
Bangkok Post

Thai Hom Mali rice could lose market share in Hong Kong to Cambodia, where premium fragrant rice sells at more competitive prices.

Hong Kong imports 220,000 to 230,000 tonnes, or 10% of the jasmine Hom Mali rice Thailand ships each year.

But the volume of Thai rice to the territory has been falling in recent years, as Cambodia offers lower prices by shipping out of ports in Vietnam, Thai exporters said.

"Cambodian fragrant rice sold in Hong Kong is very competitive at US$800 per tonne, lower than the $1,100 for Thai rice," said Charoen Laothamatas, the president of Uthai Produce, the country's leading Hom Mali exporter.

Thai Hom Mali exports to Hong Kong dropped to 196,100 tonnes last year, down 3% from the year before. In the first 10 months this year, the volume shrank 14% to 135,000 tonnes.

"Cambodia's jasmine rice appears to have the similar fine quality of Thai rice since it also has many locally owned strains and cross-bred varieties, some developed from Thai Hom Dok Mali 105 and Pathum Thani 1," he said.

Its exports have been active in recent years thanks to good productivity and the strong sweet scent of its jasmine rice grown from fertile soil with fewer chemical fertilisers, said Mr Charoen.

Prime Minister Hun Sen forecast earlier that Cambodia would produce 7.5 million tonnes of rice this year, more than enough for local consumption of 4 million, so it plans to export the balance.

Thai Hom Mali rice also must deal with fake Hom Mali being sold in Hong Kong and China.

Because Hom Mali sells at a premium, it encourages traders to copy the trademarks on bags of lower-standard grain, said Mr Charoen.

Hom Mali exports have dropped to 1.82 million tonnes in the first 10 months of the year, down 14% from the same period of 2009.

His company's sales last year shrank to between 150,000 and 160,000 tonnes from more than 250,000 the year before.

To alleviate the problem, he suggests the government classify other Thai jasmine fragrant rice strains in order to offer choices for consumers who don't want to spend as much.

He added the quality of Hom Mali rice, especially the aroma, has been deteriorating due to a lack of investment in research and development of rice breeds and the lack of a zoning system to ensure the grain's properties.

"It is always frightening to learn there are new strains of less fragrant jasmine rice being planted in the Northeast, the region most suitable for growing Hom Mali," he said.

Mr Charoen also urged the government to guard against illegal imports of Cambodian jasmine rice by Thai millers because of the Thai government's income guarantee programme.

Cambodian Rice to Be Available in the U.S. in 2011

Rice Prices Are Steaming, With Many Implications

Developing World Is Vulnerable To Expected Food-Cost Inflation; Hedge Funds Get Into the Act

December 15, 2007
By LAUREN ETTER
The Wall Street Journal

The global commodities boom that has lifted prices of everything from gasoline to gold is now elevating rice -- a staple food for half of the world -- to its highest level in nearly 20 years.

Rice's surge has complex consequences for the global economy. Used in everything from sushi to burritos to Rice Krispies, the ubiquitous grain is suffering poor harvests and tight supplies in some of the biggest rice-exporting and rice-consuming nations, just as demand grows in places like India and the Philippines.

The higher price is a boon for some farmers and investors. But at the same time, it is expected to contribute to a protracted bout of food-price inflation for the foreseeable future, which could widen the rift between the world's haves and have-nots.

"At the end of the day, the fight will be between the industrialized world and the developing world," says Michael Lewis, managing director at Deutsche Bank.

A particular humanitarian concern is that the world's poorest consumers, many dependent on rice, often have little or no voice. "When they suffer food shortages, they starve in silence," says Joachim von Braun, director general at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Soaring prices are drawing myriad investors into the market. On the Chicago Board of Trade, the number of bets outstanding on rice futures contracts recently reached a high -- a basic sign that more traders see a chance to make money on rising prices.

Nontraditional players, such as hedge funds, are now trading in rice, according to Fred Seamon, associate director of commodity research at the CBOT, and new exchange-traded investment products aimed at individual investors are also being rolled out. Two months ago, Jim Rogers, founder of the Rogers International Commodities Index, launched the Rogers Agricultural Exchange Traded Note.

While prices for other commodities like oil have been flirting with records in recent months, in inflation-adjusted terms, agriculture commodities still have room to rise before reaching that point. For example, the price of wheat will have to increase by 106% before it reaches its record high in real terms, according to Mr. Lewis at Deutsche Bank.

-------------
CRACKLING GAINS
• The News: Futures prices for rice are at 20-year highs, which may have implications for the global economy.
• Background: Most commodity prices have been booming world-wide.
• What's Next: There could be general food-price inflation, increasing the gap between rich and poor nations. Many of the poorest consumers depend on rice.As rice prices rise, food aid for developing countries is becoming scarcer. And the international price for broken rice, an affordable grade favored in many African countries, has increased 40% since last year, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
-------------

On the CBOT Friday, rice futures contracts settled at $13.1250 per 100 pounds, down 5.5 cents. That is up from $9.87 a year ago and just shy of the previous record price of $13.40, set in January 1988 when rice was traded at the Mid-America Exchange.

While prices like these aren't at record levels in inflation-adjusted terms, they nevertheless threaten to exacerbate poverty in large areas of the world.

Senegal Riot

One risk is that, in some cases, rising prices lead to food shortages and social unrest. Indeed, in November a riot that broke out in Senegal was in part attributed to higher prices for rice, a staple there. Protesters, throwing rocks and burning tires, were met with police firing tear gas.

The story of rice echoes that of nearly all commodities, whether petroleum, copper or wheat. Prices for many commodities are surging thanks to booming demand from emerging economies like China. It is having broad ripple effects: Steel prices make it costlier to construct buildings; the rising cost of oil helps to drive up the cost of world shipping rates.

Rising oil prices also make it costlier to grow and ship rice and other grains -- which, in turn, drives up food prices.

Human Impact

Agricultural commodities, of course, tend to have a more direct human impact than, say, oil or steel. Grains have been trading at or near historic highs partly because of a combination of growing demand for biofuels -- such as ethanol made from grain -- as well as a rising global population, which means more mouths to feed in the developing world.

In addition, the weaker dollar has helped to boost global rice prices, as most rice is traded in dollars. In Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, the price of long-grain rice has increased nearly 20% since last year, according to Nathan Childs, senior economist at the Department of Agriculture.

All these factors have depleted global grain stocks to levels not seen in decades. Wheat stocks are at their lowest level in 60 years. Rice stocks are at 24-year lows.

Complicating matters: Historically, rice has been a thinly traded market. Only about 7% of global rice production is traded on the world market, according to Mr. Childs. This means that, in the event of a supply shock, rice importers have to scour the globe for available supplies, driving up the price even further. For comparison, about 16% of other grains, like wheat and corn, are traded globally.

Permanent Trend

Increased demand and tightening supplies are likely to persist. The Agriculture Department estimates that food prices will increase about 4.5% this year over last, compared with a 2.4% annual increase last year. In the developing world, food prices have increased about 9% over last year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Higher food costs tend to hit people in poor countries harder than those in developed countries as households in developing countries spend a larger percentage of their income on food. In the U.S., food makes up about 18% of the overall consumer-price-index basket, compared with as much as 40% in some emerging economies, according to a report by Deutsche Bank.

For countries that rely on donations or aid to feed the hungry, higher prices can mean less food. At the United Nations World Food Program, rice is the third-most-frequently purchased commodity, and it supplies more than 70% of caloric intake in poor countries like Cambodia.

"If prices go up we'll be getting less of that particular commodity," says WFP spokeswoman Jennifer Parmelee. She says the price of procuring food has increased 50% over the past five years.

Since 2000, global rice consumption has increased 7.5%, while production increased about 5.4%. As supplies run short, the risk for the world market is that big rice exporters start keeping the food for themselves rather than selling it on the market, further driving up prices.

In July, Vietnam -- the world's second-largest rice exporter after Thailand -- said it would restrict rice exports in order to meet domestic needs first. India, another large exporter, announced similar export restrictions in October.

The U.S. accounts for only about 1.5% to 2% of global rice production, but it is the fourth-largest exporter, behind Thailand, Vietnam and India.

This year, U.S. rice acreage was 3% smaller than last year because of strong prices for competing crops, like corn and soybeans. However the crop is estimated to be 2% bigger because of higher yields. U.S. exports are expected to be nearly 20% higher than last year.

Write to Lauren Etter at lauren.etter@wsj.com

Cambodia working on establishing geographical rights of goods

October 02, 2007

Cambodia is conducting studies on the creation of geographical rights for the nation's key products to promote exports, local media said on Tuesday.

The process is being discussed at a two-day workshop here organized by the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), which ends on Tuesday. The conference is being attended by officials from the ministries of commerce and agriculture and private producers, Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey reported.

The study aims to identify the geography of goods to streamline the trade, said Rafael Dochao Moreno, EU charge d'ffaires to Cambodia.

"We have to collect goods in areas to be registered and disseminated and also protect those goods in the country and abroad," said Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Commerce Mao Thora. The project will run in conjunction with the government 's One Village One Product initiative.

Rice from Battambang, silk from Banteay Meanchey, palm sugar from Kompong Speu, pepper from Kampot, fish paste from Siem Reap, and Cardamom spices from Pursat are on a shortlist of products that are to be examined to see if they hold the criteria to meet geographical indication (GI) standards, said Mao Thora.

"Geographical indication is not a certificate," said Stephane Passeri, administrator for the EU-funded EC-ASEAN Intellectual Property Rights Cooperation Program, or ECAP II.

"It is an intellectual property concept. Such rights have to follow national legislation, without which there is no recognition that can be claimed outside Cambodia," Stephane Passeri added.

With aid from EU, the geographical registration of goods is to urge for the adoption of Law on Intellectual Property Rights according to the demands of World Trade Organization (WTO), said Mao Thora.

Source: Xinhua