Hong Kong’s rice imports in 2013 have increased to around 339,000 tons, up about 9% from about 310,000 tons in 2012, according to the USDA Post.
The Hong Kong rice import market has changed significantly since its full liberalization in 2003. The government eliminated the old rice import quota system in January 2003. Since then the number of rice importers in the country has more than tripled to 176 in 2014.
Most of the rice importers in the country are fast-food caterers, retailers and importers of organic products. Of the 176 importers, around 100 are active importers, and 10 of which import an average of 20,000 tons of rice per year and around 70 of the importers import less than 250 tons of rice per year.