Myanmar weighs merits of India bean agreement
India is playing hardball with Myanmar’s beans and pulses sector, pushing for a per-tonne deal that falls well short of domestic market rates. Assistant director of the Ministry of Commerce U Khin Maung Lwin confirmed that Myanmar and India are locked in negotiations over a proposed 900,000-tonne deal. India is angling for each tonne to be bought for some US$400 less than the current market price. “Myanmar traders can’t sell with that price. The rate they offer is not so convenient for local traders,” said U Khin Maung Lwin. In 2007, India offered to buy 900,000 tonnes of mung and green gram at a price of $700 per tonne, he said. Mungs are at $1130 per tonne, and are transported under the free-on-board system. “Prices offered by outside [non-government] traders are more than the price [the Indian government] offered. We would sell only at the market price,” said Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Association executive director U Myat Soe.
