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According to the annual report released by the exchange, a total of K12.6 billion worth of 1.87 million shares by six listed companies were traded on the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) in 2020, a significant drop compared to 2019. Over 2.4 million shares from five listed companies, valued K13.39 billion, were traded on the exchange in 2019. Both continuous trading and block trading on YSX fell in 2020 despite Ever Flow River Group Public Co’s (EFR) debut, on the exchange on 28 May 2020. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Myanmar’s securities market has been able to continue operating without stopping trading. At present, shares of six listed companies — First Myanmar Investment (FMI), Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings (MTSH), Myanmar Citizens Bank (MCB), First Private Bank (FPB), TMH Telecom Public Co. Ltd (TMH) and the EFR are being traded on the exchange.

In 2020, the value of stocks traded on the exchange peaked at K1.48 billion in February. In contrast, trading on the exchange registered an all-time low of K552.9 million in November due to the COVID-19 resurgence in Myanmar. In January 2020, 196,836 shares worth K1.25 billion were traded on the exchange while 188,919 shares, with an estimated value of K1.48 billion, were traded on the exchange in February and K1.42 billion worth 228,913 shares were traded in March respectively. It touched the lowest of K902 million with 173,808 shares in April. It rose to K1.2 billion with 200,416 shares being traded in May. The share volumes traded on the exchange surged to 221,682 in June, with estimated value K1.3 billion and then, it fell to K1 billion with 125,137 shares in July. In August, the exchange witnessed a low stock trading value at K747.5 million, with 118,850 shares traded. The value slightly rose to K838.67 million, with 85,237 shares on the exchange in September. It continued drops in October with 85,630 shares worth K673.5 million.

The value of shares traded on the exchange sank to the lowest level of K552.9 million in November, with 107,028 shares. The trading value rose to K1.14 billion with 139,513 shares in December, the exchange’s monthly report showed. The price per share of FMI decreased from K11,500 in January 2020 to K9,900 on 30 December 2020. The share price of MTSH remained unchanged at K3,850 last year. MCB’s stock price also dipped to K8,000 from K8,200. The cost of FPB showed a small drop from K23,000 to K22,500, while TMH slightly fell to K2,800 from K2,850. Nevertheless, the share price of EFR rose to K3,700 in Dec-end compared with the rate in May 2020. In 2016, only three companies were traded on the YSX — FMI, MTSH, and MCB. One more public company, FPB, was listed on the YSX in 2017. In 2018, TMH debuted on the exchange. EFR entered the exchange in 2020. This year, Amata Holding Public Co., Ltd has been approved to be listed on the exchange, and the listing date will be announced soon.

More than 2.5 million shares of three listed companies were traded on the YSX in 2016, and their value was estimated at K70 billion. In 2017, despite an increase in the stock trading volume to 2.6 million shares, the trade value was only K22 billion. In 2018, 2.3 million shares of five companies, worth K11.5 billion, were traded on the exchange, according to the annual report of the YSX. The stock markets worldwide have reported their largest declines since the 2008 financial crisis. Similarly, the local equities market is also scared by the COVID-19 crash, points out a market observer. At present, people are putting money in savings, rather than investing during the COVID-19 crisis, he added. YSX held webinar sessions on 26 and 27 December to share the future benefit of stock investment for the investors, in coordination with securities companies (MSEC, KBZSC, CBSC, AYA Trust SC, KTzRH and uabsc).

Next, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) has allowed foreigners to invest in the local equity market from 20 March 2020.
Furthermore, YSX launched pre-listing board (PLB) on 28 September 2020 to provide unlisted public companies with fund-raising opportunities and build a bridge toward listing on YSX, YSX stated. The YSX was launched three years ago to improve the private business sector. It disseminates rules and regulations regarding the stock exchange and knowledge of share trading through stock investment seminars. The stock exchange has also sought the government’s support to get more public companies to participate in the stock market and help more institutional investors, such as financing companies, investment banks, and insurance companies, to emerge.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The agricultural exports have touched a high of US$936.074 million as of 18 December 2020 in the current financial year since 1 October 2020 despite a drastic drop in overall export values amid the COVID-19 impacts. The figures reflect a significant rise of $156.3 million this FY. The agro exports soared from $779.69 million in the corresponding period of the 2019-2020FY, according to the trade figures released by the Ministry of Commerce. Myanmar’s agricultural exports rose regardless of the impact of the coronavirus on foreign demand. In the exports sector, the agriculture industry performed the best, accounting for 22 per cent of overall exports. The agricultural industry’s chief export items are rice and broken rice, pulses and beans, and maize. Fruits and vegetables, sesame, dried tea leaves, sugar, and other agro products are also shipped to other countries.

Myanmar agro products are primarily exported to China, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes, the export market remains uncertain due to unsteady global demand. The country requires specific export plans for each agro product, as they are currently exported to external markets based upon supply and demand. Contract farming systems, the involvement of regional and state agriculture departments, exporters, traders, and some grower groups, are required to meet production targets, said an official from the Agriculture Department. More than 100,000 acres of monsoon paddy have been cultivated under the contract farming system this year, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF). The Commerce Ministry is working to help farmers deal with high input costs, procurement of pedigree seeds, high cultivation costs, and unpredictable weather conditions.

Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank (MADB) under the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Industry has notified the farmers of agricultural loans for the current financial year. In a bid to mitigate the impacts stricken by the COVID-19, the bank also provided an additional loan of K50,000 per acre under the COVID-19 Special Relief Loan Scheme between June and September 2020. Moreover, it cut the loan interest rate from eight to five per cent during the COVID-19 crisis. The MADB grants agricultural loans to the small-scale farmers annually. The paddy farmers can take out loans of K150,000 per acre, while the growers of other crops including sugarcane, can get K100,000 per acre. They have to put the original Farmland Permit Form (7) up for collateral to secure the loan under the personal guarantee system.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

A largest part of people is residing in the rural areas in Myanmar relying entirely on agriculture as their major profession. The more agriculture sector develops, the more the socio-economic life of rural people makes progress. Only if the rural area develops can Myanmar be improved. The residents in the rural area make up more than 70% of the total population of the country. Apart from rice, marketable beans and pulses, sesame, cucumber, watermelon, onion and garlic, and winter crops (rural term) such as groundnut and carrot grow well in Myanmar’s climate. Myanmar coffee saw a market’s favourite and an offer last year. An order for 100 tonnes coffee of six containers’ shipment worth of about USD 850,000 was accepted to be sent in the harvest time of coffee. Myanmar coffee already sought foreign markets by sending coffee samples and conducting introducing of coffee products. The Republic of Korea, Japan, China, and Chinese Taipei in East Asia become well aware of Myanmar coffee and would like to place orders from Myanmar due to the advantages of being organic and better processes of making coffee.

Myanmar avocado was exported to London and won the customers’ likes. The information that plans would underway to export Myanmar watermelon to Qatar and Singapore if the UAE liked Myanmar watermelon has become good news for the growers, farmers and Myanmar agriculture sector. Myanmar avocado will be exported to London for the second time, according to Myanmar Avocado Producers and Exporters Association. Avocado strains like Amara, Hass and Barkaenia from Myanmar could be exported to England for the first time in the first week of November. Myanma avocado is scheduled to be exported to England for the second time early January in 2021. Myanmar produces avocado a lot and most of which have to rely on local markets. But now the producers are trying to export Myanma avocados to foreign markets. Myanmar produced 5,000 tonnes of avocados in 2019-2020 financial year and 500 tonnes of them received Premium Market which included local consumption and export.

Agricultural techniques and information are being distributed in line with standardizations in order to grasp Premium Market in 2020-2021FY. Every product coming from Myanmar agriculture sector has to rely entirely on China. Myanmar traders have to be satisfied with the price China offered as they have no competitive market. When watermelons are transported by trucks to China, they are inspected by poking inside with iron rods at the checked points. It looks like illegal things especially narcotic drugs are checked. Therefore some watermelons see damages during the inspection. When they arrive at the Chinese market, they do not get good price and they are subject to a reduction in the current price. The traders have to sell at a loss despite the fact that they do not get good price. Unless they sell the watermelon at the reduced price, they have to charge for transport cost for one more day and they have to pay for parking fee as well.

If they do not sell, the watermelon may go rotten. If it is disposed, they will have to pay for municipal cost. For these reasons, they have to sell the watermelon at a reduced price. If the rice is exported to African and Asian countries, there may be some delays and difficulties and so it has to be sold to China at a reduced price. Myanmar watermelon is being currently exported to UAE, becoming a new market for Myanmar traders in addition to the Chinese market. It can be said that Myanmar agricultural products have seen a new export route to the foreign market. “Myanmar watermelon had to place too much reliance on export only to a single country of China. But now foreign markets have already been sought to export to the UAE, Qatar and Singapore. The fruit wholesales company from Dubai in the UAE contacted Future Glory company for purchase on watermelon. They signed an agreement to export watermelon all the year round although the exact export volume was not stated.

An order for seedless watermelon was already accepted and it was picked up on 9 September. A container holding 25 tonnes of seedless watermelon was first sent to the cold room and then it was exported to Dubai for the first batch. Myanmar muskmelon together with the seedless watermelon was also exported as a testing ground. Two kinds of smuskmelon produced from ChaungU in Sagaing Region will be exported for the purpose of a testing ground, according to a source from Sagaing Region Watermelon and Muskmelon Producers and Exporters Association. “Shwe” muskmelon and “Pike” muskmelon produced from Pauk-inn in ChaungU Township was transported by water for the first time. In the past, these fruits had to place much reliance on the Chinese market. If international competitive markets can be sought, there would be a reduction in difficulties with fault-finding such as reduced price, reduced fruit tonnage and low quality and the farmers can hope for the opportunities of good price. Two samples of muskmelon from Sagaing Region, sample of 855 large size watermelon from Meiktila, sample of small size watermelon called “Done-kyi” from Kayan in Yangon Region will be sent.

In an effort to export watermelons to China via Myanmar border, the authorities from the border of China often close the border crossings and their inspections cause some delays. These reasons bring an unstable market and Myanmar watermelon farmers had to face wastes and losses throughout the history. Watermelon plantations carried out by the Chinese can be seen not only in the northern part of Shan State but also in Mandalay and Sagaing Regions and the watermelon produced from these plantations are sent back to their country and it has an effect on local growers to some degree. With the emergence of new markets in the UAE, Qatar and Singapore, Myanmar will manage to escape from the much-reliance on the Chinese market. Myanmar has the opportunities of extending the watermelon market and the growers are going to enjoy the benefits with the extensive foreign market.

The UAE is going to purchase mangoes and pipe apples from Myanmar and they will be exported at a time when they are in season. Moreover, mangoes and pipe apples will be exported to Qatar and Singapore, according to Myanmar Watermelon and Muskmelon Growers and Exporters Association. During the Covid-19 crisis, an entry into China through border was closed. For that reason, the watermelons couldn’t be grown in Myanmar by the Chinese people because they were banned entering Myanmar. Local farmers had to grow the watermelon less than the previous as the market seemed uncertain and at the same time the watermelon acreage was on the decrease. The reduced production caused less supply but more demand in the foreign market. Therefore, per tonne price of Myanma watermelon rose to 6,500 Yuan in the fruit market of Wantein in China, according to the fruit wholesales centre of Muse.
Watermelon and muskmelon are produced in Bago, Mon, Mandalay, Sagaing and northern part of Shan State where more than one million tonnes of crops is harvested in a year. The reliable market for Myanma watermelon and muskmelon is China.

Last year saw almost no purchases from China due to the impact of the Covid-19 on the market which the cucumber farmers had to suffered losses. This year new markets have already been sought to export foreign countries apart from China. The demands from China have increased significantly with the price reaching a record high within 20 years at a time when the new markets are extended to foreign countries. The climate changes in China resulted in losses in the cultivation of crops and a reduction in the crop yield. When the demand increased, there was few numbers of growers in the country and the crop yield decreased and this situation hardly happens, according to some watermelon and muskmelon merchants from Muse. Local watermelon price to China has been unprecedented reaching a record high by the time the fruit is in season this year.

The current watermelon export price from Muse to China has been the highest within 30 years. With less supply and more demand, per tonne price stands at 7,200 Yuan. In the early September, per tonne price was around 2,500 Yuan. The number of watermelon trucks entered Muse in a day at the end of last year was about 300, but now about 50. Watermelon exporters had to come across the most losses within 20 years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The post-January of 2020 is the time of substantial export volume, but since then the traders faced sizable losses with almost no buyers who can afford to purchase a very large amount. Watermelon and muskmelon sale festivals were held in Yangon with the purpose of easing the losses to some extent. Myanmar watermelon was exported to the UAE while Myanmar avocado was exported to London. A plan to export muskmelon and watermelon to Qatar and Singapore has become a sign of development in the market expansion of Myanmar agriculture sector.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar