11 November
Mattress and bedding production are helping families eke out a living in Monywa and Kyemon villages, Monywa Township, Sagaing Region.
“Our two villages are carrying out production of mattresses, bedding, and also other items out of wadded fabric. We purchase cloth from Yangon garment factories as the raw material. We try to ensure low levels of noise in our workplaces. Once we have wadding, we line it inside Korean cloth and casual cloth from China and sow it up nicely. We make three types of wadded blankets. The wholesale price of a single blanket ranges between K3,800 and K4,000, while bedding costs between K12,000 and K14,000, depending on the quality of cloth. We make a ten-per-cent profit on a single piece. Last year, we purchased about 50,000 viss of raw materials. This year, we purchased about 30,000 viss of raw materials as the market has cooled. Mattress and bedding production businesses earn between K2.5 million and K3 million per year, and have created job opportunities for local people,” said U Bo Lin, a one-stop shop owner from Monywa village.
“We sew casual cloth bags for the wadding. A small bag costs K40 or K50. We can finish about 150 or 200 bags per day. A sewing business can earn from K5,000 to K10,000 per day,” said Ma Toe Toe, a tailor who makes blanket bags.
There are 1,500 houses in Monywa village and 700 houses in Kyemon village. About 75 per cent of the households are mainly involved in mattress and bedding production.
Those villages are located beside the Sagaing-Monywa road and they are distributing mattress and bedding across the country.—Maung Chit Lin (Indaw) (Translated by Hay Mar)
