The prices of sesame bounced back in the Mandalay market on account of Chinese New Year.
The sesame prices stood at K380,000 per 45-viss sack for black sesame (Samone variety), K395,000-K400,000 for white sesame, K315,000 for brown sesame, K330,000 for red sesame, K320,000 for yellow sesame, K200,000 for Niger seed and K350,000 for winter sesame on 15 February.
The prices surged to K435,000 per 45-viss sack for black sesame (Samone variety), K405,000-K420,000 for white sesame, K320,000 for brown sesame, K330,000 for red sesame, K320,000 for yellow sesame, K200,000 for Niger seed and K365,000 for winter sesame on 24 February.
The figures indicated a significant increase of K5,000-K55,000 per sack of other sesame seeds, when the prices of red sesame, yellow sesame and Niger seed remain unchanged for ten days.
At present, the market sees a roaring trade of the various sesame seeds on the back of strong demand in Mandalay’s market. They are primarily exported to China. Also, demand from Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Chinese (Taipei) is significantly rising. Furthermore, there is a steady demand from the domestic oil millers and sesame-based food industries such as sesame jam and roasted sesame businesses.
Myanmar exports one of the oil crops, sesame to the external market through maritime channels and border posts.
In April last year, world’s top palm oil exporter Indonesia, which is one of the main oil suppliers to Myanmar, declared an export ban on cooking oil export to reduce domestic shortage. Consequently, Myanmar’s Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce temporarily suspended exports of oil crops (peanut and sesame) from 9 May in order to have oil self-sufficiency.
Exports of Myanmar’s edible oil crops resumed as the world’s top palm oil exporters returned to normalcy, according to a notification dated 5 July 2022 released by the Trade Department. — NN/EM
