CNI News
26 July 2022
Although Thailand has allowed Myanmar merchants to export corn to Thailand until the end of August under tax exemption, Myanmar merchants are unlikely to export all the remaining corn to Thailand within the exemption period as they still have huge volumes of corn in their hands, according to traders and exporters.
Due to shortages of trucks and high transportation charges, it was unlikely to export all the remaining corn stock to Thailand within one month, Ko Sai Kham of the Golden Sky Co., Ltd told the CNI.
He said, “ Currently, on one can export corn to Thailand. If they continue to store corn in warehouses, they will suffer losses. If they export corn to Thailand, they suffer losses, too. If they wait for the time they will be profitable, corn will be destroyed by pests. They are in a deadlock. Thailand will close border gates for corn on 31 August. We have only one month’s time to export corn to Thailand. Then, there will be no corn importers. Some exporters said they gained K 40,000 profit per bag while others said they get only K 5,000 to K 6,000 profit per bag. If we can export corn to Thailand, we are facing the problem of shortages of trucks and high transportation costs before the end of August.”
A Border trade zone in the Myanmar-Thai border
It was learnt that world corn prices were falling.
Furthermore, merchants have stopped exporting corn to Thailand due to the advance payment system in US$ due to the exchange rate gap between the rate set by the CBM and the market. The exports of corn to Thailand are also delayed by export licenses and tax regimes.
At present, Myanmar merchants are exporting corn to Thailand at losses as they have signed supply contracts with their Thai counterparts, Secretary U Thant Zin Tun of the Myanmar Corn Industry Entrepreneurs Association said.
He told the CNI, “Some farmers are selling their corn they have stored. When they don’t have their corn stocks, prices tend to rise. So, some rich farmers are still storing their corn. However, the richer farmers and merchants who have stored corn suffer losses but they sell corn to their Thai counterparts as they have signed supply contracts. So, corn is still being export to Thailand.”
Drying Myanmar corn
Thailand allows its merchants to import corn from Myanmar free of taxes within the period from February to august. Previous years, corn stock in the hands of Myanmar merchants was not as much as this year and fetched higher prices. However, Myanmar merchants still have huge volumes of corn stocks in their hands and prices are falling.
As the volume of corn stocks in their hands is huge, farmers are beginning to worry about further falls in corn prices, farmer Ko Min Khaing told the CNI.
He said, “ We need to export all the corn to Thailand this year but merchants cannot sell at losses and have to store their stocks. When new corn is harvested, the situation will worsen. We are worried about the market,”
Corn export prices to Thailand dropped from US$ 360 per ton previous year to between US$ 290 and US$ 310 per ton this year while domestic corn prices fell from K 1,100 per viss in early July to K 770 per vis currently in the Yangon Market.
