COFCO's recent move into the central Asian market has diversified the exports of Chinese parboiled rice. Thus far, COFCO has exported 21,000 tons of parboiled rice to central Asia, accounting for 11% of China's total exports in the same period. By the end of August this year, nearly 10,000 tons of parboiled rice had already been exported.
Leveraging the cutting-edge technologies at its disposal, COFCO has scored great successes in converting the domestically unpopular Early Indica rice into parboiled rice and launching it onto the international market. In addition to filling a niche in the parboiled rice industry, this has enhanced the Chinese rice industry as a whole, played a significant role in improving the added value of agricultural products, increased foreign exchange and promoted the economic development of old revolutionary bases. Most importantly, a balance has been achieved between economic performance and social responsibility.
COFCO Rice (Jiangxi) is the sole parboiled rice processing factory in China and its production scale is unrivalled in Asia. Since the factory was put into operation in November 2004, China's parboiled rice has been widely accepted by West-African, Middle-Eastern and Eastern European markets for its world class technique and inimitable quality.
The rice is also sold in central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan and Tadzhikistan. These countries consume 2 million tons of rice every year, of which 200,000 tons is imported. Central Asians have a unique food culture and commonly like to eat their rice cooked with stewed beef, mutton and vegetables. As parboiled rice is ideal for this type of cuisine, its prospects in this market are particularly positive. COFCO's parboiled rice also caught the attention of rice traders and media at the recently concluded 15th China-Urumchi Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Fair.
