Posts in category: TRADING

Myanmar’s seaborne trade with international trade partners showed an uptick of 32 per cent between 1 April and 9 September in the current financial year 2022-2023. The value of maritime trade soared to US$11.5 billion, reflecting a sharp rise of $2.8 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Seaborne trade rose from $8.7 billion during the year-ago period, according to the Ministry of Commerce. While seaborne exports were valued at $5.037 billion, imports were registered at $6.486 billion. Both exports and imports by sea have risen as compared to the year-ago period.

Myanmar’s seaborne trade generated $19.8 billion out of an overall trade value of $29.5 billion in the previous FY 2020-2021, the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics indicated. In September 2022, 55 cargo ships carrying many containers, operated by 14 international shipping liners, were scheduled to enter terminals in Yangon Port, according to a notification of the Myanma Port Authority. Terminals in Yangon Port handled 410 cargo ships in the past eight months. The number of cargo ships entering Yangon Port stood at 49 in January, 48 in February, 50 in March, 52 in April, 54 in May, 53 in June, 49 in July and 55 ships in August respectively.

Myanmar Port Authority and Yangon inner terminals are providing services to ensure the fast and reliable cargo handling and withdrawal of the containers. Earlier, the larger ships had draft problems preventing their sailing on the Yangon River. The draft extension is up to 10 meters with the new navigation channel accessing the inner Yangon River. Yangon inner terminals and the outer Thilawa Port have received larger ships of 30,000 DWT (Deadweight tonnage) after the draft limit was extended up to 10 meters. Myanmar exports agricultural products, fishery products, minerals, livestock, forest products, finished industrial goods, and other products, while it imports capital goods, consumer goods, and raw industrial materials.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The value of imports including consumer goods has plummeted, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce. Between 1 April and 2 September in the current financial year 2022-2023, goods worth $6.266 billion by sea and goods worth $884.948 million were imported into the country. Imports of consumer goods, capital goods, and raw materials by CMP businesses accumulated to US$7.151 billion.

In the corresponding period last FY, Myanmar imported goods worth $5.84 billion from foreign trade partners, with maritime imports valued at $4.614 billion and sea trade worth $1.226 billion. Import value by sea rose over the past five months compared to that of the year-ago period. Yet, import via cross-border trade was down by $341.561 million. The value of imports via land borders is attributed to the depreciation of Kyat against the currencies of neighbouring countries like China and Thailand, importers said. The exchange rate is currently estimated at K90 for a Thai Baht, K490 for Yuan and K3,500 for a US dollar in the local forex market.

Last August, Kyat drastically fell against the foreign currencies. Consequently, the imports were on the verge of suspension, traders stressed. At present, the prices of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and fuel oil are soaring. Therefore, agricultural machinery and related equipment were exempted from obtaining an import licence from 1 September, the Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce notified on 31 August. In a bid to support the country’s agricultural development and facilitate the imports of agricultural machinery, 70 HS lines concerning the agricultural machinery and equipment were eased from licensing requirements.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The value of agricultural exports amounted to US$1.51 billion between 1 April and 2 September in the current financial year 2022-2023, indicating a small increase of $27.28 million as against the year ago period. The figures topped $1.48 billion in the corresponding period last year. Myanmar agricultural products are exported to China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India and countries in Europe and African countries.

The country shipped rice, corn, chili pepper, rubber, mango, various beans and pulses to the external markets through border posts and sea trade. The country requires specific export plans for each agricultural product, as they are currently exported to external markets based upon supply and demand. The G to G pact also ensures a strong market for the farmers. Contract farming systems, involvement of regional and state agriculture departments, exporters, traders, and some grower groups, are required in order to meet production targets, the Agriculture Department stated.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding between Myanmar and India, India will annually import 250,000 tonnes of black gram and 100,000 tonnes of pigeon peas (tur) from Myanmar for five consecutive years from 2021-2022 financial year to 2025-2026 FY. The Commerce Ministry is endeavouring to help farmers deal with challenges such as high input costs, procurement of quality pedigree seeds, high cultivation costs, and erratic weather conditions. Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) invited rice companies and millers who want to participate in the contract farming system in the coming summer paddy season.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation is supervising to implement contract farming system on 850,000 acres of summer paddy in the 2022-2023 season, provide payment-in-kind (seeds, fertilizer and diesel) instead of cash and the summer paddy growers will be entitled to receive K200,000 worth of payment-in-kind per acre through Agriculture Development Fund. This plan aims to boost the paddy yield through the support of agricultural inputs (fertilizer, seeds and others) and conduct supply chain financing strategy connecting the farmers, millers and companies, according to the MRF’s statement. Myanmar’s agriculture sector is the backbone of the country’s economy and it contributes to over 30 per cent of Gross Domestic Products. The country primarily cultivates paddy, corn, cotton, sugarcane, various pulses and beans.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce has notified on 29 August that exporters have to pay terminal handling charges, inspection costs and commission from 35 per cent of export earnings. They must pay them 35 per cent of export earnings. They do not need to request approval from the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee (FESC) regarding this case, according to the committee’s meeting (43/2022). Therefore, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry has notified the related associations of the directive of the FESC.

Regarding the relaxation of the procedure, the shipping process is expected to go smoothly. However, as they must pay 35 per cent of export earnings, the amount of dollars they can sell themselves has become lower, the Myanmar Enterprise Solutions posted on its Facebook Page. According to the CBM’s notification dated 5 August 2022, exporters have to convert only 65 per cent of the hard currency they earned into local currency within one working day.

The CBM issued a statement dated 16 August 2022 that exporters can use 35 per cent of export earnings or sell them to authorized dealers (banks) or make remittances to others. Regarding foreign accounts of the exporters at the banks, 65 per cent of earnings must be exchanged for local currency within one working day. Banks must conduct transactions from the remaining 35 per cent for the use of exporters or remittances or selling them onto ADs, and those entities (companies, institutions and individuals) must sell them to the ADs or use themselves within 30 days of earnings. Exporters must seek the approval of the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee to carry out cross-border transactions. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Starting from 1 September 2022, the items related to agricultural machinery included in the HS code lines declared by the Ministry of Commerce are exempted from obtaining an import licence, according to the notification released by the Trade Department under the MoC on 31 August.

In a bid to support the country’s agricultural development and facilitate the imports of agricultural machinery, 70 HS lines concerning the agricultural machinery and equipment were eased from licence requirements from 1 September. Those items can be imported in line with the regulations of the respective departments.

At present, Kyat is depreciating against foreign currencies in the local forex market. The foreign exchange rate stood at K110 for a Thai Baht, K560 for a Chinese Yuan and K4,000 for a dollar. Consequently, imports nearly came to a halt due to the Kyat devaluation, importers stressed. Among the import items, the price of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers is soaring. Additionally, the price of fuel oil used in agricultural machinery is rocketing as well.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The Ministry of Commerce stated that the country pocketed over US$13 billion from international trading in four and a half months of the 2022-2023 financial year. Myanmar exported $6537.504 million worth of goods and imported $6,507.207 million worth of goods. The total trade volume from 1 April to 19 August this financial year was $13,044.711 million.

The trade value of the previous year was $10430.457 million. Comparing the same period of the previous two financial years, foreign trade income increased by $2,614.254 million in the 2022-2023FY. According to the MoC statements, the State bags over $16.079 billion of foreign trade value in the six months of the 2021-2022 Mini-Budget period and surpassed the trade income of the same duration in the previous year.

The trade income value of Myanmar from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 was $16.079 billion and $15.971 billion were earned in the same period of the previous year. The National Planning Law mentioned that $15.5 billion of export value and $14 billion of import value were expected as per the annual price index for the 2022-2023 financial year.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Traders said that the trading activities have been closed since 26 August due to the detection of the Covid-19 infection at the Wang Ding crossing in Kyinsankyawt on the China-Myanmar border. “Covid-19 infection has been found at Wang Ding. Trading activities have been closed temporarily,” a Mandalay-based rice trader said on his social media page. Wang Ding is the only trading post on the Muse border that has the right to trade between China and Myanmar.

A merchant said that due to the detection of Covid-19 infection in Wang Ding, China-Myanmar border, Ward (1) was placed under lockdown and the Shweli-Wang Ding Bridge was also temporarily closed. As for the trucks that have arrived in Wang Ding, they are going through the border post regularly and will be medically checked on 27 and 28 August 2022. If no more infections are found, the Shweli-Wang Ding Bridge will be reopened, traders said.

China will suspend the entry and exit of trucks through the Wang Ding checkpoint, highway checkpoint, Jiangqiao checkpoint and Heishanmen checkpoint starting from 26 August over the discovery of the virus in the country, according to a businessman in the border area. China has closed the Muse border trade since 2020 because of the Covid-19 disease and only reopened the Wang Ding trade this year. According to the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics, China-Myanmar trade worth more than US$1 billion can be traded through the Wang Ding border. The Wang Ding route, which is currently closed by China, is used for trade and is the place where the alternative driver system is used. It is the main export route for Myanmar’s agricultural produce. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Among the restrictions on corn, pulses, and sesame exporters, the matter of having to apply for an export licence has been eased, according to the, pulses and beans, maize and sesame producers on 27 August.
In the past, various pulses were exported abroad.

On 1 August, the Department of Trade issued a directive that licences will only be issued with the approval of thea Myanmar Pulses and Beans, Maize and Sesame Industry Association in order to obtain an export license for the export of sesame, oil crops, and pulses.

On 27 August, it was eased to apply for a licence without seeking the approval. The relaxation will start from 29 August and export licence applicants do not need to seek a letter of endorsement from the association.

In July, the Ministry of Commerce stressed that exporters of pulses, corn, sesame, peanuts and oilseeds will be allowed to export only if they can show the export incomes licence along with banking documents. In addition, exporters of sesame, all kinds of pulses, corn, and oilcrops through the border trade camps must make payments only in US dollars, and the export earnings must be exchanged at the Central Bank of Myanmar at its reference rate.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The wholesale reference rate of palm oil in the Yangon market increased again to nearly K5,000 per viss, according to the Supervisory Committee on edible oil import and distribution. The Supervisory Committee on edible oil import and distribution under the Ministry of Commerce has been closely observing the FOB prices in Malaysia and Indonesia including transport costs, tariffs and banking services, and issuing the wholesale market reference rate for edible oil on a weekly basis. The reference rate of palm oil in the Yangon market for a week from 29 August to 4 September is set at K4,910 per viss, whereas the reference price for a week ending on 28 August was set at K4,860 per viss.

The figures showed an increase of K50 per viss. However, the current market price is higher than the reference rate. Despite the reference rate, the traders are found to raise the price to K10,000 per viss in the markets. To tackle this, mobile market trucks operated by oil importing companies, in coordination with the Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers’ Association, were back to business in some townships on 17 July in order to offer palm oil at a subsidized rate. They sell palm oil at K5,100 per viss to consumers directly. However, there are limited sources of supply although they directly sell the palm oil at a reference rate depending on the volume quota.

“The edible oil price is moving an upward spiral. We rush to queue to buy the oil when the mobile market trucks arrive in our ward,” a housewife said. If the retailers and wholesalers are found overcharging, storing inventory intentionally and attempting unscrupulous action to manipulate the market, they will face legal action under the Special Goods Tax Law, MoC released a statement. The Ministry of Commerce is striving for consumers not to worry over the supply of edible oil. The ministry is also trying to secure edible oil sufficiency, supervise the market to offer reasonable prices to consumers and maintain price stability. The domestic consumption of edible oil is estimated at 1 million tonnes per year. The local cooking oil production is just about 400,000 tonnes. To meet the oil sufficiency in the domestic market, about 700,000 tonnes of cooking oil are yearly imported through Malaysia and Indonesia. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The wholesale price of onion in the Yangon market reaches nearly K3,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes), Ko Aung, a buyer at Nyaungpinlay market, told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
That price is five times higher than the prices recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 and 2020. The onion price increased from K2,050 on 1 August to K2,700 on 20 August, indicating the price rise of K650 per viss, Ko Aung said. On 1 August, the wholesale prices stood at K1,350-1,950 per viss of onion from Seikphyu Township and K1,400-2,050 per viss of onion from Monywa Township.

The prices climbed to K2,000-2,600 per viss of onions from Seikphyu Township and K2,150-2,700 per viss of onions from Monywa Township on 20 August. About 100,000 visses of onions are daily supplied to Yangon markets. The highest prices of onions in regions and states other than Yangon is K2,500 per viss of onion from the Seikphyu area and K3,000 from the Pakokku area. On 20 August 2021, the wholesale prices were K360-475 per viss. During the same period in 2020, the onions were priced at K450-500 per viss. The prices hit a record high of K3,700 per viss in 2015 and 2019.

However, the onion prices registered on 20 August of the years 2015 and 2019 were still lower than the current market price, a market observer U Khin Maung Win shared this information with the GNLM. Approximately 1.8 million visses of onions are stockpiled in the warehouses of Pakokku Township, a resident Ko Lay Aung speculated. On 21 August 2022, no onion truck was seen at the Bayintnaung Commodity Wholesale Market, Ma Ei from the onion warehouse on Yetama Street said. Onion traders are expecting the price to rise to K3,000 per viss. When onion price skyrockets, imported onions are likely to flood the domestic market, a trader shared his opinion.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar