Greedy traders’ manipulation in rice market creates price fluctuation
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Hsu / Yoon (NP News) - Feb 20
The Chairman of the Myanmar Rice Federation Ye Min Aung said that there is no rice shortage in #Myanmar although some of the greedy traders are trying to manipulate the #rice_price.
He underlined it during the exclusive interview with the NP News.
“There are instabilities in some regions. Traders store rice and paddy to save their excessive money. Some do this with good intention but some are not. Some greedy traders manipulate the market with expectation of higher price. Therefore, there are many motives in temporary fluctuation of the rice price.” Ye Min Aung said.
In some area of the country, the price of rice is high due to regional instabilities. However, in some countries, some of the greedy traders bought the rice and stored them to sell for higher prices.
High rice prices have direct impacts challenging the grassroot and workers with low incomes.
Yangon and Mandalay markets have regular turnovers of rice flow, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation. What is more, rice for export purpose and rice in the domestic market are different in quality. Therefore, it is not likely that there will be a shortage of rice.
In (2022-2023) Fiscal year, up to the end of January, Myanmar has exported up to 2 million metric tons of rice to foreign countries and in February and March, 300,000 metric tons of rice will be exported. Therefore, the total of 2.3 million metric tons of rice will be exported.
In Myanmar, there are altogether 18 million acres of rice field and the average rice consumption rate of a citizen is 218.25 qt (quart) per year. Rice is consumed more in rural than in urban.
Concerning with the current instabilities in the country, Sein Win, the agricultural technician, gave the remark saying that “In the market, we have direct purchase from foreign countries and also purchase from local. Due to the unexpected fluctuation in currency exchange, some of the traders bought rice in bulk to manipulate the market. The high exchange rate can leave negative impact on the farmers. The farmers could not earn what they deserve. Those who make the profit most out of it are traders and brokers. The brokers, factories and mills, companies and businessmen make the profit out of it. Therefore, they want to control the market.”