January 20
The price of garlic from the Aungban area, Shan State, which is nearing harvest time, has returned to the highest price in 2017.
Likewise, it has been around a month since the sugar mills started operating again, but it is difficult to buy sugar in the Yangon market due to its rising prices, said a dealer. Sugar prices hit the highest record again.
New Shan garlic usually enters the market after the Chinese New Year. There is only a small stock of garlic left in the country and they are mostly low in quality. The weight of garlic decreased as well.
Since the release of new Shan garlic in 2022, the price per viss has been the highest at K2,900-K4,200 until mid-December 2022. However, the price reached K4,000-K5,100 per viss on 24 December 2022 and K4,900-K6,200 per viss on 12 January. It is reported that the garlic price fetched K4,800-K5,900 per viss in the Aungban area on 15 January.
Kyukok garlic grasps the market share in the domestic market, because of the difficulty in peeling Shan garlic even though the quality of Shan garlic is better than Kyukok garlic, said a garlic seller. Kyukok garlic is widely used when the prices of new Shan garlic go up.
Similarly, sugar fetched the wholesale price of K2,550 per viss in October 2022, and was appreciated at K2,650 per viss on 30 December 2022 and K2,700 per viss on 13 January 2023, when the sugar mills are back in operation. As the sugar prices increased, the availability of sugar decreased in the Yangon market. If the price of sugar is higher than that of imported sugar, the imported sugar tends to enter the country.
It is known that the price of jaggery was stable while the sugar price is rising. The price of white jaggery of NyaungU (treated with chemicals), which rose to K3,700 per viss in early October 2022, stood at K3,100 per viss currently. Brown slab sugar made from sugarcane is still priced at K2,650 per viss. To increase the sale of brown slab sugar, it has been seen that peanut brown slab sugar was made and sold in the market.
The domestic sugar market relies on a small number of sugar mills and the storage of new sugar has increased among hoarders. The reason for the increasing sugar price at the time of the mill running is the low number of sugar mills and the exportation of sugar to external markets. — TWA/CT
