Posts in category: TRADING

The value of Myanmar’s mineral exports has declined by US$115 million as of 12 August since April
2022 in the current financial year 2022-2023 compared to the corresponding period last year. The value of Myanmar’s mineral exports sank to US$139 million in the past four and a half months from $254.448 million recorded in the same period of 2021-2022 mini-budget, the Ministry of Commerce’s data indicated. The coronavirus negative consequences led to the slump in mineral exports during the pandemic.

At present, the majority of the mining businesses suspend operations in the rainy season. Additionally, Lonkhin, Hpakant, Mawlu and Mawhan gem and jade mining businesses in Kachin State have been suspended with a view to supporting sustainable resource extraction for future generations, and ensuring safe and efficient operation of jade and gems mines, according to Myanmar Gems Enterprise. Due to limited extraction of natural resources, exports of minerals had dropped significantly in the previous years.

Investors can seek permits to mine for minerals such as gold, copper, lead and tin. The permits cover prospecting, exploration, and production. Myanmar’s mineral exports touched $895.6 million in the previous FY 2020-2021, showing a significant drop of $975.2 million compared with the year-ago period, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce. About 80 per cent of mineral products are shipped to external markets through sea trade, while 20 of them are sent to neighbouring countries through border trade channels.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The prices of chickpea and potatoes reached the highest in three years. On 17 August 2022, wholesale prices of chickpea in Yangon markets touched a high of K4,000-4,200 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes) and potatoes fetched K1,400-2,400 per viss depending on the varieties. The current market price is the highest compared to the corresponding periods of the past two years, said Ko Phyo, a trader who delivers goods to the delta region. On 17 August 2021, chickpea was priced at K2,600-2,700 per viss and potatoes were worth K350-1,100 per viss. On 17 August 2020, the prices stood at K1,700-1,750 per viss of chickpea and K400-650 per viss of potato.

The local consumption of chickpea and potatoes is high. They are one of the key ingredients in Myanmar dishes, said Daw Moe Moe, a housewife. I have to raise the potato curry price along with other meat curry prices as potato prices hit K2,000 per viss, said Daw San, a roadside food vendor. Some substitute the pea for chickpea, said Ko Yan, a seller of pulses in Bayintnaung market. The wholesale price of chickpea stayed below K2,000 per viss as of September 2020. The price rose to K2,250 per viss in the last four months of 2000. In 2021, wholesale chickpea prices climbed to K2,750 per viss. In early 2022, the price jumped to over K3,000 per viss in early 2022.

The price rocketed to K4,000 per viss in mid-August 2022. The chickpeas are mostly supplied by Pyay areas, said Ko Thein, a seller from the Bayintnaung market.  The price in August 2022 is two times higher than the price recorded in 2020. The potato price was mostly below K1,000 per viss in 2020. The highest price in 2020 is K1,450 per viss on 23 September, said Ko Aung, a potato seller from the Nyaungpinlay Market. The potato price reached the lowest of K700 in early 2021 and the highest of K2,450 per viss in late 2021. The potato was priced at K2,400 on 17 August 2022 in the wholesale market. It is the maximized price against the same periods of 2020 and 2021, said Ko Aung. High price benefits growers yet consumers are hurting from rising food prices, Ko Naing, a market observer pointed out. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The wholesale reference price of palm oil in the Yangon market for a week ended 21 August 2022 is set at K4,140 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes), according to the statement released by Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers’ Association on 15 August. The wholesale reference price was set only at K3,525 per viss in the past two weeks (1 to 14 August). The figures showed a sharp increase of K615 per viss this week. Prior to the price hike, palm oil prices rose by K200 per viss in the markets, said Ko Myo, a trader who delivers commodities to the regions outside Yangon. On 15 August, the wholesale palm oil price was offered K9,400 per viss in the markets.

The number of sellers decreased, Ko Aung from the Nyaungpinlay market said. In early August, the consumers can buy palm oil at the retail reference price of K3,700 per viss through mobile markets. However, there is a mismatch between supply and demand. Consequently, the consumers are forced to purchase the palm oil at K10,000 per viss in the market, said a housewife Ma Myint Myint, a resident of Hlinethaya Township. I have to buy vegetable oil at K10,000 per 1.8-litre bottle, said Ma Khaing who is working in Lanmadaw Township.

Both the retail and wholesale prices are moving onwards. The wholesale price on 13 August soared to K9,000-9,100 per viss from K8,600 recorded on 11 August. On the morning of 15 August, palm oil transactions had not been made, said Daw Hlaing Win, a trader from Myingyan. Similarly, the palm oil price was estimated at K91,000 per 10-viss jerry can, indicating an increase of K2,000 per jerry can vis-à-vis the previous day. On 15 August, the price jumped to K10,000 per jerry can, she added. Companies are found to suspend the distribution of vegetable oil with different brands starting from early August. So, I just have to sell the remaining inventory, said Ko Maung Naing, a shopkeeper near the Sinmalaik Market in Kyimyindine Township.

Likewise, different brands of vegetable and palm oil are not on display at the shopping centre in Lanmadaw Township, unlike previous months’ store display. Ma Aye Aye from Lanmadaw muttered that I could not buy them accordingly. Only sesame, soybean, peanut and sesame oil are witnessed on the shelves of the centre. The price tags are K14,500 per viss of peanut, K12,000 for sesame oil, K10,000 for soybean oil, Ma Aye Aye continued. On 13 August, the wholesale prices of edible oil stood at K13,000-15,000 per viss of peanut oil, K9,500-10,000 each for sesame oil and sunflower oil and K7,000-7,500 for soybean oil, according to daily trade data released by the Mandalay Commodity Exchange. Before mid-August when the wholesale reference price was not that high, the wholesale price remained on an upward trend in the markets. Nevertheless, a hike in wholesale reference price this week posed difficulties to the buyers due to the skyrocketing edible oil prices.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Myanmar delivered fishery products to Thailand through three border posts in the past four months (April-July) of the current financial year 2022-2023, with an estimated value of US$53.04 million, according to the statistics released by the border posts. Fisheries exports via the Myanmar-Thailand border trade channel have returned to normal. The export volume of fishery products via three border posts and Htikhee, Mawtaung and Kawthoung is estimated at over 46,930 tonnes in the past four months.

During April-July 2022 period, trade value stood at $10.14 million at Htikhee border post, over $0.9 million at Mawtaung post and over $42 million at Kawthoung post, according to the trade data released by Myanmar Fisheries Federation. Trade volume in the corresponding period of the 2020-2021 FY was only 84,000 tonnes, which was still lower than the volume recorded in the same period of 2021-2022 mini-budget period.

Myanmar shipped over $181 million valued fishery products to foreign markets between 1 April and 22 July of the current FY 2022-2023, as per the Department of Fisheries. Myanmar exports raw aquaculture products from farms and caught by onshore and offshore fishing businesses to the external markets. Additionally, aquaculture products are also exported after being processed at the cold storage facilities. The Department of Fisheries and Myanmar Fisheries Federation are working together on fishery export promotion beyond self-sufficiency.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

According to the Trade Department under the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, $45 million was earned from exporting fruits to foreign countries in four months. It is reported that more than 100,000 tonnes of domestically grown fruits have been exported and sold to neighbouring countries through land borders.

From 1 April to 22 July in the 2022-2023 financial year, 95,000 tonnes of GMO bananas, 15,000 tonnes of mangoes, 10,400 tonnes of watermelons, over 3,300 tonnes of sweet melons, 192 tonnes of coconuts, more than 120,000 tonnes of fruits such as avocados and peaches were exported.

Around $45 million was earned from the export of the fruit from April to July in the 2022-2023 financial year. GMO bananas, mangoes, watermelons, sweet melons, coconuts, peaches, avocados, apples, mangosteen, and pineapples were exported to the Chinese market through Muse, Myawady, Maungtaw, Kampaiti, and Lweje border trade camps. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The Mawtaung-Singkhorn land border between Myanmar and Thailand in Taninthayi Region was reopened on 2 August. Officials of the two countries discussed and reopened the Mawtaung-Singkhorn land border only for trade purpose. They still stop the entry and exit for people through the border crossing. It takes only three hours to get to Mawtaung from Myeik.

There is not as much loss in exporting the marine products via that border post as via the Kawthoung route, truck driver U Hla Aung Myint said. Due to clashes near Taninthayi township, the border checkpoint has been closed since April and the authorities of two countries discussed to reopen it now.

The closure of the Mawtaung- Singkhorn border that mainly exports marine products to the fish auction market in Maha Chaing of Thailand led some businesses to suspend temporarily and local fishermen faced hardships and losses, said Ko Tin Lun, a marine products exporter. According to the COVID-19 health rules and statements of the Singkhorn post, the trade can be done from Monday to Saturday daily between 8 am and 4 pm. Every Sunday will be day-off for cleansing processes of the border crossing.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Importers are excluded from access to buy hard foreign currency at the regulated reference rate of the Central Bank of Myanmar, Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce released a notification on 1 August. Importers involved in cross-border trade with dollar settlement are barred from buying the dollars through Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee when an import licence is granted. Pharmaceutical companies can seek import licences if they can purchase the dollars on the over-the-counter market in their own ways, according to a notification released by the Trade Department on 22 July.

Pharmaceutical importing companies must submit a report to the Health Department through Myanmar Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Association to seek import licences. After scrutinizing them, the ministry will forward them to Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee. To cut possible delays and ensure decent stocks for consumers, they can also use the black-market dollar for payment instead of buying from formal markets at the regulated reference rate. A letter of commitment signed by a company director has to be submitted to Myanmar Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturer Association and then, it will proceed to the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee.

The committee will make a list of those companies that do not buy dollars through official exchanges and send the list to the Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce so that the department can grant import licences to those companies, without a Delivery Order. However, those entitled companies that can purchase dollars at the reference rate have to go with normal work procedures. At present, despite the governance on the outflow of foreign exchange, imports surpassed exports in the past four months of the current financial year 2022-2023, the Commerce Ministry’s statistics showed. In the past four months, exports were valued at US$5.2 billion, while import value hit $5.25 billion, indicating a trade deficit of over $46 million.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

The wholesale reference rate of palm oil in the Yangon market for this week ended on 7 August is set at K3,525 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes), 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 25 to 31 July is set at K3,665 per viss. Therefore, the reference rate is down by K140 compared to last week’s rate. However, the market price is higher than the reference rate. Mobile market trucks operated by 11 companies, in coordination with Myanmar Edible Oil Dealers’ Association, were back to business in some townships starting from 17 July in order to offer palm oil at the subsidized rate of K3,800 per viss to the consumers. However, there are limited sources of supply although they directly sell the palm oil at a reference rate depending on the volume quota.

If those 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 the 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 a reasonable price to the consumers, maintain price stability and prevent market manipulation. 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 from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

It has been announced in a newsletter dated July 27 (8/2022) that the processing and export of corn, sesame and pulses allowed to foreign companies and foreign joint ventures have been canceled. On February 4, 2020 (2/2020) it has been allowed to produce for pulses, sesame, corn, etc., as a product that can be processed further.

Now, some foreign companies are promoting pulses, corn, sesame, etc. based on the information in the newsletter (2/2020). It is stated that it has been verified that it is being exported as crops that have been raised and processed without processing. Therefore, it is stated that the newsletter (2/2020) related to the status of the products that can be produced and improved for pulses, corn and sesame has been canceled by this newsletter.

As the Ministry of Commerce, it is stated in the newsletter (2/2020) related to export and import, foreign companies and foreign joint ventures were allowed to purchase two groups of products from manufacturers and export them abroad in order to increase the production capacity by expanding and exporting the products to the foreign market, aimed to increase the production capacity by expanding the export to the foreign market in order to obtain more foreign markets and to obtain a higher selling price for the products.

The seven types of products are (1) clean and peeled chickpeas (whole), cleaned and peeled (parts), cleaned and peeled whole, cleaned and peeled parts, powder (raw/roasted), canned, ready-to-eat, etc. The green bean type includes cleaned and peeled (side), cleaned and shelled whole, cleaned and shelled powder (green/roasted), packaged in canned, ready-to-eat, etc. Sesame type includes sesame powder, roasted sesame powder, shelled sesame, etc.

Source: Daily Eleven

Myanmar’s external trade between 1 April and 22 July of the 2022-2023 Financial Year (FY) tremendously rose to US$10.45 billion, reflecting a sharp increase of $2.066 billion as against the year-ago period, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The figures surged from $8.386 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Myanmar’s export was worth over $5.203 billion whereas, the country’s import was valued at $5.25 billion over the past two months. The border trade dropped owing to the red tape and China’s strict virus rules, with a decrease of $191.45 million as against the year-ago period. However, the maritime trade registered a significant rise of $2.257 billion in nearly four months.

Myanmar exports agricultural products, animal products, minerals, forest products, and finished industrial goods, while it imports capital goods, raw industrial materials, and consumer goods. The country’s export sector relies more on the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. The Ministry of Commerce is focusing on reducing the trade deficit, export promotion, import substitution and market diversification. The external trade stood at $15.5 billion in the past mini-budget 2021-2022 (October-March) period and $29.58 billion in the 2020-2021FY as per the Commerce Ministry’s statistics. 

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar