28 October

DELEGATIONS  from  the  Myanmar Rice Federation will visit China, the Philippines, and African to promote Myanmar rice in the export markets, according to a press statement issued by the federation on Wednesday.

The  MRF’s  Management  Committee and the Central Executive held a joint meeting on 22  October  and  discussed  matters related to the basic price of paddy, the formation of regional committees of the MRF, plan for the international marketing trip, and paddy exports. 

In a bid to coordinate all the stakeholders in the supply chain including producing, milling and trading sectors, the MRF stated it will form regional committees in Yangon, Ayeyawady, and Bago regions  by  the  end  of  this  year, and later on in Sagaing Region and  Rakhine  State.  It  formed  two  district-level  committees  last  week  covering  Maubin,  Nyaungdon,  Pantanaw,  Danuphyu,  Mawlamyinekyun,  Pyabon, Dedaye, Kyaiklat and Bogale  townships  in  Ayeyawady  Region.  

At  the  meeting,  the  MRF  urged rice millers and traders to buy paddy at the floor rate of K500,000 per 100 baskets, if the market price falls below the set basic price. 

Traders seeking to export paddy  to  China  and  Bangladesh through the border gates must examine contracts care-fully and seek export licenses through  the  respective  minis-tries, the MRF officials said.

The volume of rice and bro-ken  rice  exported  over  elev-en-and-a-half  months  since  October  in  the  previous  fiscal  year was estimated at over 2.29 million metric tons, worth $691 million, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation. 

Myanmar  currently  ships  rice to 65 foreign markets. China, which accounts for over 33 per cent of the total rice exports, is the main buyer of Myanmar rice, followed by the Philippines and Cameroon. Côte d'Ivoire is the  fourth-largest  buyer  and  Madagascar  the  fifth-largest  buyer  of  Myanmar  rice.  The  European Union countries ac-count  for  over  20.88  per  cent  of  rice  exports,  while  25.4  per  cent  of  Myanmar’s  rice  goes  to African countries. 

Myanmar  exports  broken  rice  mostly  to  Belgium,  fol-lowed by Indonesia, the Netherlands, China, and the UK. It is placed in 41 export markets. 

Earlier,  border  trade  was  relatively high compared to sea trade in terms of rice exports. During the last fiscal year, border trade accounted for just 27 per cent of the total rice export, while maritime trade constituted 72.58 per cent. 

Between  1  October,  2018  and 20 September, 2019, rice ex-ports through the border gates helped the country earn an estimated $187 million, whereas maritime  trade  generated  an  income of $503.85 million, data from  the  Commerce  Ministry  showed. 

Myanmar  primarily  ex-ports  rice  to  China  through  the  border  gates.  However,  trade in agricultural products was halted on account of China clamping down on illegal trade. As a result, stocks of rice piled up at the Muse border gate in Q1 of this year, bringing down the  price  of  rice  in  the  export  market. 

Additionally,  the  prices  of  low-quality rice varieties Ngasein  and  Aemahta  were  lower  compared  to  the  corresponding period of the previous year, according to the local market.

At  present,  rice  is  being  exported  to  China  through  a  government-to-government (G2G) agreement and a barter system,  in  exchange  for  Chinese goods.  Myanmar shipped 3.6  million  tons  of  rice  in  the  2017-2018 fiscal year, an all-time record in rice exports.

GNLM (Translated by EMM)