4 November
Mung bean price breached K1.18 million per ton for FAQ (fair and average quality) in the domestic market following the news of India’s possible purchase of more mung beans, according to Bayintnaung commodity depot.
India’s October-end import deadline has already expired. However, India might purchase the beans when there is market demand.
The price of mung beans has been gradually increasing since the end of September. Mung bean was priced at K853,000 per ton in early October, and is currently pegged above K1.18 million per ton, according to a commodity depot in Yangon.
At present, mung beans are fetching K1.18 million per ton in the Yangon market, an increase of some K300,000 per ton within one month.
At the 4th ASEAN-India Expo and Summit held last February, a Myanmar delegation, led by the Union Minister for Commerce and made up of pulses and bean merchants, forwarded a request to Indian government officials to purchase 400,000 tons of mung beans from Myanmar. But there has been no response to the request, according to the association.
India, the main buyer of Myanmar pulses, has announced an import quota of 150,000 tons for mung beans and 200,000 tons for pigeon peas for exporter countries. The import deadline had been set for the end of October.
Besides India, Myanmar beans are purchased by Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Dubai, Malaysia, Indonesia, China (Taipei), Japan, and other ASEAN and European countries. But the volume of demand remains small, according to the domestic pulses market.
The Ministry of Commerce has been conducting a series of discussions to sell Myanmar beans through government-to-government (G2G) pacts. In addition, the ministry has been exploring more external markets, said U Aung Htoo, the Deputy Minister for Commerce.
India’s move to restrict the importation of pulses in August 2017, severely affected growers in Myanmar. The price of pulses also plummeted drastically.
In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, over 1.32 million tons of mung beans, pigeon peas, and green grams were shipped to foreign countries. But, the earnings were registered at just $886 million, owing to the price drop, according to data provided by the Ministry of Commerce.
During the last FY 2018-2019, more than 1.64 million tons of various pulses were exported to foreign countries, with an estimated income of over one billion dollars. Also, the volume was up 300,000 tons compared to the year-ago period.
Ko Htet (Translated by Ei Myat Mon)
