The price of high-grade Pawsan rice from delta regions rose by K10,000 per sack in the domestic market although there is no major flooding in the delta region like Kayin and Mon states and Bago city.
The new monsoon paddy will be harvested in September. There is only one month remaining to sell the old low-grade stocks in the market. New high-grade Pawsan rice from the delta region will enter the market at the end of November. There is a price difference of K10,000 between the new Pawsan rice and the old one.
Before the harvest season of new paddy, some traders keeping the rice stocks in hand are attempting to control the price to maximize their profits. That is a market manipulation conduct, a market observer pointed out.
The rice prices stood at K135,000-145,000 per sack of Pawsan rice from Shwebo and K110,000- 115,000 per sack of Pawsan from Myaungmya, Pyapon, Mawgyun and Bogalay areas on 14 August.
Meanwhile, the Pawkywe rice variety fetched K90,000-95,000 per sack. The low-grade 90-day short matured rice was priced at K78,000- 83,000 per sack and the price of the rice grown under the intercropping system was K70,000-72,000 per sack. Meanwhile, the broken rice prices moved in the range between K50,000 and K52,000 per sack.
Following the rice price rallies, Myanmar Rice Federation started to sell off 170,000 rice sacks from 7 August, comprising 50,000 sacks of Aemahta rice variety, 20,000 sacks of Pawsan rice and 100,000 sacks of 90-day short mature rice. The rice prices are set at K110,000-120,000 per sack of Shwebo Pawsan, K94,000-97,000 per sack of Ayeyawady Pawsan, K65,000 per sack of Aemahta variety (10 per cent broken) and K60,000 per sack of Aemahta (25 per cent broken). An individual is entitled to buy one Pawsan rice sack and one low-grade rice sack per month at Wahdan and Bayintnaung rice depots, by presenting the citizenship scrutiny card.
The prices showed an increase of K10,000 per sack of Pawsan rice and K2,000 per sack of low-grade rice a week after the subsidy scheme.
When the Pawsan paddy from the Shwebo area was newly harvested, the old Pawsan paddy price hit K2.6 million per 100 baskets and the old Pawsan rice was priced at K88,000 per sack in early January 2023. The new Pawsan paddy price was K1.6 million per 100 baskets and new Pawsan rice fetched K60,000 per sack. — TWA/EM
