Yangon’s bean and pulses industry said that 185 containers of black gram (4,440 tonnes) were released in July and 60 more containers (1,440 tonnes) were traded in five days of August.
The prices stood at K3,665- 3,750 per viss of green gram and K2.368 million per tonne of black gram on 5 August 2023. About 40 containers (96 tonnes) of black gram were transacted on that day.
Myanmar bagged over US$160 million from over 190,600 tonnes of black gram and $130 million from over 194,700 tonnes of green gram as of 28 July in the current financial year 2023-2024 beginning 1 April, the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics indicated.
India notified that the free import policy of black gram (urad) and pigeon pea (tur) extended up to March 2024, bringing more benefits to the stockholders in the supply chain including growers and exporters.
India has growing demand and consumption requirements for black gram and pigeon peas. According to a Memorandum of Understanding between Myanmar and India signed on 18 June 2021, India will 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. This G-to-G pact will not affect the pulses’ annual quota set by India. Myanmar’s exporters are also entitled to deliver the pulses to India under that annual quota.
The price of green gram from the Pakokku area remained unchanged at K2,500-2,670 per viss between 19 June and 3 August. Similarly, the green gram from the Kayan area (Shwe Wah variety) was stable at K3,665 per viss from 13 July to 5 August.
The price of new green gram from the Pakokku area was K206,000-210,000 per 56.25 viss in the Yangon market.
The green gram is cultivated in the post-monsoon period in that township and they are started to be supplied to the market in the early months of the year.
This year, the green gram price plummeted to K2,250 per viss on 4 April and peaked at K3,915-4,035 per viss on 13 February. Black grams and pigeon peas are mainly shipped to India, while green gram is exported to European countries and China beyond India. There is higher consumption of green gram in domestic markets rather than pigeon pea and black gram. — TWA/KK
