Myanmar seaborne rice export surpasses 188,000 tonnes in two months

 

June 28

 

Myanmar shipped over 188,000 tonnes of rice and broken rice to foreign countries through sea route in the past two months (April-May) of the current financial year 2023-2024, Myanmar Rice Federation’s statistics showed.

 

Myanmar sent 188,161 tonnes of rice and broken rice by sea and 10,193 tonnes via the border in the past two months.

 

The Central Bank of Myanmar’s directive for export earnings resulted in a drop in rice exports through border channels. For the cross-border trade, 65 per cent export earnings (US dollar) of the rice and related products have to be exchanged according to the reference rate of the Central Bank of Myanmar (K2,100) starting from 1 March.

 

Earlier, exporters were not obligatory to convert the export earnings into local currency at the reference rate. So, they were allowed to use them 100 per cent for any purpose. However, as per the new policy of the CBM, conversion of the foreign currency at the CBM’s reference rate is applicable to all the export goods, along with the policy exercised in the seaborne trade.

 

Following the directive, the rice export came to a halt for a while at the border.

 

MRF aimed to achieve 2.5 million tonnes of rice export in the current FY, generating an income of US$1 billion.

 

Myanmar exported 2,261,203 tonnes of rice and broken rice to foreign trade partners in the past 2022-2023 FY (April-March), bagging $853.472 million. The seaborne trade saw an export of 1.8 million tonnes and over 430,000 tonnes were sent to the neighbouring countries via the border.

 

Myanmar has been exerting concerted efforts to increase 10 per cent yearly in the rice export sector. To raise income of foreign currency, it has been prioritizing exportation of high-grade rice and boosting export volume, MRF stated.—NN/EM