Myanmar faces a fall in total export volumes and a widening of the trade deficit in the coming fiscal year after India last year banned imports of pulses and beans from Myanmar. India is the largest importer of locally-produced pulses and beans.

“We’ve exported 1 million tonnes of pulses and beans to India this year. But we don’t know if we can export similar volumes next year. So, we’re considering getting permission to re-export sugar so the drop in pulse and bean exports does not affect overall export volumes next year,” said U Yan Naing Tun.

Sugar ban 

The MOC first allowed traders to import and re-export sugar on September 1, 2015. At the time, demand from China, one of the largest buyers of sugar from Myanmar, was on the rise. To meet the huge demand, hundreds of sugar traders in Myanmar were issued with licenses to import sugar and re-export the commodity to China.

In 2016, with the price of sugar in China almost double that of the market price, Myanmar’s sugar traders imported 1.7 million tonnes of sugar in 2015-16 for re-export purposes. Around 700,000 tonnes of sugar was exported for a total of $394 million, according to the MOC.

As not all the imported sugar has been re-exported and since the beginning of 2017, demand from China has tapered. As a result, sugar prices have declined sharply, leaving many traders who imported sugar when prices were higher in the lurch. It also contributed to a ballooning sugar glut in the country, leading the MOC to stop issuing sugar re-export licenses.

Between April and February of the current fiscal year, just over 1 million tonnes of sugar has been exported for a total of $679 million. In 2016-17, around 2 million tonnes of surgar was exported for a total of $1.1 billion. Sugar is mainly exported to China at the Muse border gate, according to the MOC.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/moc-mulls-lifting-temporary-ban-re-exporting-sugar.html