Myanmar added an additional 22 countries to its rice export market reach over the 2016-2017 financial year, according to statistics from the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF).
The country found much more buyers for its rice export in the period that ended on March 31 with the stock going to 22 new markets, namely; Australia, Benin, Cameron, Columbia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Guinea, Israel, Madagascar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Togo, the United States, Venezuela and Vietnam. China remains the biggest importer of Myanmar rice to buy approximately 50 per cent of the country’s rice export volume in the year. In exporting rice to neighbouring China, Myanmar also relies on border trade besides normal trade (sea trade). African countries congregate to be the second biggest market for Myanmar rice after China. “While the Chinese market is very big for Myanmar, other high-demanding markets such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia and African countries are also important for the rice export. As rice is a foodstuff, it needs to be managed to ensure quality merchandise as well as trying to achieve continuous export on the other side.” said Ye Min Aung, general secretary of the MRF. Myanmar exported 1.7 million tonnes of rice to a total of 54 countries in the 2016-2017 financial year; 32 countries are regular markets excluding the new buyers. The country also exported broken rice to 33 countries in the 2016- 2017 financial year. Among those, 22 countries are new markets, namely; Afghanistan, Botswana, Canada, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Niger, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka and the United States.
Despite new markets, the rice export of volume of Myanmar did not increase compared to the years before, remaining at around 1.8 million tones. Myanmar, once the top global rice exporter, produces about 14 million tons of rice yearly, with domestic consumption accounting for 12 million tonnes and nearly 2 million going for external offers, according to the country’s agricultural data.
