Thursday, 21 March 2013 14:52 Khin Myo Thwe
Rice Merchants said that the price of Pearl Paw San rice has risen slightly but the price of ordinary white rice remains stable.
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| Pearl Paw San rice (PHOTO: Myanmar Rice) |
“A bag of medium-quality Paw San rice cost 18,000 kyat [per 50 kg basket] last week, but went up to 18,500 kyat [US $22] this week,” said Tin San, a rice merchant from Wardan Street Wholesale Centre.
Pearl Paw San rice is famous throughout the Southeast Asian region as arguably the tastiest and most fragrant rice on the market. In 2011 it surpassed Thailand’s renowned jasmine rice in a competition hosted in Vietnam when Pearl Paw San was declared the World’s Best Rice.
The price of bag of Emahta rice—a popular variety covered by the “ordinary” or “plain” rice category—was standing at 15,800 kyat, the same price as last week.
Merchants say that plain rice is regularly exported via the Chinese border at Muse and the Thai border at Myawaddy. However, demand from the Thai border is low these days.
Chinese imports of Myanmar plain rice is often used for alcohol distillation, said trader Myo Aung.
Another reason that rice prices have remained steady, merchants say, is because tons of summer rice from Ayeyarwaddy Region have been arriving at Bayintnaung and Wardan Street wholesale centers in Yangon, said Myo Aung.
Some 1.4 million metric tons of all rice and rice products were exported from Myanmar in 2012-13, earning revenue of US $540 million by March 8 of the fiscal year.
During the same period last year, just 740,880 metric tons of rice were exported, earning less than $290 million.
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