The price of corn was on a gradual decline, touching a low of under K1,200 per viss, according to the Yangon Region Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Bayintnaung Commodity Depot).
The sluggish foreign demand and decrease in FOB prices to (US$300-320 per tonne) are contributing factors to the current price drop, as per Myanmar Corn Industrial Association.
Corn fetches K1,190 per viss in the domestic market. Myanmar delivered corn to China and Thailand through the border and also shipped corn to China, India, Viet Nam and the Philippines by sea.
China is purchasing Myanmar’s corn through cross-border trade under the opium substitution programme. Legitimate corn trade between Myanmar and China commenced at the end of 2022. A total of 112 companies have been given the go-ahead for corn exports.
Thailand gives the green light to corn imports under zero tariff (with Form-D), between 1 February and 31 August. However, Thailand imposed a maximum tax rate of 73 per cent on corn imports to protect the rights of their growers if the corn is imported during the corn season of Thailand.
The directive released on 30 June 2022 said that transactions for the exports of agricultural products including corn, rice, bean and oil crops are to be made in dollars instead of Yuan-Kyat/Baht-Kyat. Therefore, 65 per cent of export earnings (US dollars) of the corn have to be exchanged according to the reference rate of the Central Bank of Myanmar (K2,100). Nonetheless, there is a large gap between the regulated rate and the unauthorized rate of the US dollar over K3,100.
Myanmar exported more than two million tonnes of corn to foreign trade in the 2022 corn season. The majority of them were sent to Thailand and the remaining went to the Philippines, China, India and Viet Nam.
More than two million tonnes of corn are expected to be shipped to foreign trade partners in the 2023 corn season, said U Min Khaing, chair of the Myanmar Corn Industrial Association.
At present, corn is cultivated in Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin states and Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway regions. Myanmar has three corn seasons — winter, summer and monsoon. The country produces 2.5-3 million tonnes of corn every year. — NN/EM
