Chinese sugarcane concessionaire Rui Feng and four linked firms seemed to have shut down their operations in the combined 40,000-hectare sugarcane plantation in northern Cambodia, with little public notice of the closure.
VOA Khmer visited the giant concession last week and found no activity at the plantation, especially at the Rui Feng processing facility, which processed sugarcane for all five firms – Rui Feng, Lan Feng, Heng You, Heng Rui, and Heng Nong. All firms have faced multiple land disputes across the 40,000 hectares, especially with indigenous minorities.
The $360 million investment, started in 2016, was billed as one of Asia’s largest sugar-producing facilities. The facility was pegged to process 20,000 tons of sugarcane and produce 2,000 tons of refined sugar, though the firm never released figures for its output.
