REFINED salt manufactured in Mon State has been promising and the price is good too, according to U Naing, a salt businessman from Mon State.
Refined salt price has been fine due to the market demand, he said.
“Refined salt price is good. At the same time, labour costs, fuel costs and manufacturing costs are rising too. Salt factories have labour shortage so their capacity has declined, that is why refined salt demand has mounted now, leading to high prices,” he said.
In the meantime, coarse salt prices have fallen now as a result of the increase in production and farmers have sold aggressively to make money quickly.
“The production is surplus but the manufacturing capacity has declined due to rising labour cost and fuel costs, so farmers need to sell their coarse salts quickly so that they can make money. That is why, the coarse salt price has declined,” said U Win Naing.
Mon State-produced salt has orders from Yangon and Mandalay regularly and the market has been fine, said a salt business owner. In Mon State, salt farming starts operation in September and harvest season arrives in early January.
Before 2008, Mon State’s Thanbyuzayat, Paung and Ye townships were able to produce salt even nearly 45,000 tonnes, however, depending on the weather and labour force, the state’s annual salt production is now around just 20,000 tonnes. – MT/ZS
