PHNOM PENH, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia exported 271,500 tons of milled rice in the first six months of 2018, down 5.9 percent from 288,500 tons over the same period last year, according to the latest report released on Tuesday.

Sixty-eight companies have brokered the country's rice for 56 countries and regions around the world, said the report from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export.

China is the top buyer of Cambodian rice, followed by France, Poland, the Netherlands and Britain, it said.

The Southeast Asian nation shipped 62,100 tons of milled rice to China during the January-June period this year, down 34 percent compared to the same period last year.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said in May that the country produced 10.5 million tons of paddy rice in 2017, up 5.7 percent year-on-year.

With this amount, besides local consumptions, the country would have about 5.5 million tons of unhusked rice, or 3.5 million tons of milled rice, left over for exports this year, he said.

Last year, Cambodia exported 635,679 tons of milled rice, an increase of 17 percent compared to a year earlier.