CNI News
7 Feb 2023
As onions cannot be stored for a long time and cannot be exported, local onion prices have continued to drop and onion prices at commodity exchanges ranged between MMK 700 and 900 per viss, according to onion merchants.
Onions currently harvested can be stored for only about a week.
Moreover, merchants do not buy onions to export the crop to China, Thailand and Vietnam and prices are likely to fall further to MMK 600 per viss, Onion Merchant U Hla Thaung of the Pakokku Township Merchants and Brokers Association told the CNI.
Carrying onion bags.
He said, "Onion prices have fallen because there is no export demand and onions in this season cannot be stored for a long time. They start to damage when they are stored for about two weeks. Onion prices are like to fall to MMK 600 per viss because no one can control the situation. If someone stores a viss of onions for two weeks, their weight drops to 60 ticals."
When summer onions are harvested in April, falling onion prices can be arrested, according to onion merchants.
As summer onions can be stored all year round, onion prices can be arrested, U Hla Thaung added.
He said, "Onions harvested in April can be stored until September or October or November".
As onions are a kind of vegetable, farmers have to sell their crops whether it is profitable or not while input costs for fertilizer and pesticides were higher during the cultivation season.
Price negotiation for onions.
Farmers are profitable when onion prices stand at MMK 2,000 per viss, an onion farmer from Pakokku told the CNI.
He said, "If we do not get MMK 200,000 per 100 viss, we will suffer losses. Now, we get MMK 100,000 per 100 viss. We are struggling to get what we have invested."
About 50,000 viss of onions enter the market every day but there is no demand for the crops.
Onoin merchants are suffering losses from MMI 10 million to MMK 30 million due to the low demand.