India pulse companies stock up on Myanmar Beans

December 20, 2017

With the expectation that Myanmar beans will be imported into India by the end of March, some bean companies in India are starting to stock up on Myanmar beans, according to U Min Ko Oo, the secretary of the Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seed Merchants Association.

Four months ago, India restricted the import of non-domestic pulses and beans, which dramatically affected the pulses sector in Myanmar.

“Some India bean companies started buying Myanmar beans in order to be ready to sell in the market and expect the bean price to rise, if India’s Restricted Pulse Import Policy changes at the end of March,” U Min Ko Oo said.

“The current purchases by the companies in India are not imported, but stored in Myanmar for the short-term until the restrictions are lifted,” he added.

According to the India import amended policyissued in August, India could buy only 200,000 tons of pigeon bean and 300,000 tons of mung bean and green bean from other countries, including Myanmar Following India’s import restriction on pulses in August, mung bean and pigeon peas prices plummeted. Before this announcement, a ton of pigeon peas fetched up to Ks650,000, while mung bean price was Ks800,000 per ton. Moreover, around 100,000 tons of pigeon peas and nearly 200,000 tons of mung bean were stockpiled in August when India suspended pulses importation.

Currently, the price of mung bean and pigeon peas increased slightly with demand from Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia and Dubai, even though India has suspended pea purchases.

“The stocks will gradually decrease because we export around 30,000 tons of beans per month to other countries. At present, a huge stock of around 30,000 tons of pigeon peas and 120,000 tons of mung beans are piling up,” said U Min Ko Oo, the secretary of the Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchants Association.

Currently, the price of mung bean is Ks545,000 per tons while the pigeon peas are selling for Ks375,000 per tons. To be able to control the bean market, traders have formed a committee and purchased 10,000 tons of pigeon bean and over 3,800 tons of mung bean. During the time that India has suspended pea purchases, the government will buy directly from local growers with a Ks15 billion fund in January. The bean cultivators are also planning to grow other crops instead of mung bean and pigeon bean next season. The market of mung bean, pigeon bean and green which are cultivated in Myanmar relied on only India bean market. Myanmar has exported around 1.5 million tons of bean to India annually.

May Thet Hnin

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar