CNI News
9 August, 2022
According to the Myanmar Corn Industrial Association, there is currently more than 2.5 lakh corn balance with traders due to the delay caused by the price instability in the initial phase of corn exports.
During the same period in the previous years, only 100,000 tons remained. But this year, corn prices are unstable and there has been a decline in the purchase of corn from local feed mills and so there is more corn remaining,” said U Thant Zin Tun, vice chairman (4) of Myanmar Corn Industrial Associate to CNI News.
U Thant Zin Tun said, “There are some inventories we can make and also can’t make. That’s why I can only estimate. It’s mainly between 200,000 and 250,000. The number of bags might fall between 40,000,000 and 50,000,000. This year saw a period of unstable price in the beginning which led to a bit of a slow business.”
The market speed slows down due to these slight delays where there should have been actual sales between 5/6/7/8. If the sale rates were normal, there would have only 100,000 remaining bags. The rate was a little slow previously.
When the corn price was increased in the very beginning, the local food manufacturers also raised the corn price, so it is mandatory to use corn. I also used some other materials for substitution which might have led to a slight decline in the corn sales.”
“The export policy system plays a major role in corn exports. As a result of the government's policy change and restrictions, there are left-over corns like this,” said the traders.
A corn field
“Therefore, unless there is an easing of export policy from the national government regarding the remaining 200,000 tons of corn, the corns will continue to remain until October and the farmers can miss receiving reasonable prices,” said Dr. Phyo Ko Ko Naing, the Secretary General of the Myanmar Maize Industry Association to CNI.
“The main point is export policy. If corns are allowed to be sold in baht and the license is also issued, 100,000 tons can be exported from Myawaddy border every month. We still have some time left in August which means 100,000 tons can be sold during this month. If there is no policy leniency, the corns will be left over till October and November.
The new batch of corns is also coming into season since September. Since it is already underway, there is an excess of corns in the market and there is a possibility that the farmers may not get the production costs that they deserve. We are trying to coordinate with food factories as much as possible, but for now food factories are not yet in a position to buy aggressively," he said.
There has been a delay in corn exports last July due to the stipulation of the Central Bank of Myanmar specifying that all the export earnings made from trading corn and oilseeds must be deposited to the Bank at the rate of 1,850 kyats per dollar. However, on August 5, the policy has been shifted to depositing only 65% of the export earnings and one dollar was raised to 2100 kyats.
As a result of this increase, corn prices in the Yangon corn market rose slightly. It is reported that if there is more easing of policy from the government, the corn prices can even increase further, the exportation can be done faster and the famers can also do more cultivation.
Corn is a farm product and the exportation of which is the third largest source of national income for Myanmar and 3.2 million tons of corn are manufactured annually.
