Black gram prices fluctuate slightly, yet they remain high

The prices of black grams are moving up and down a bit yet they remain elevated, according to the Ayeya Trade Centre (ATC) under the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organization.
The prevailing price of black gram is approximately K1.9 million per tonne in the domestic market. The FOB prices of Myanmar’s black gram to India are valued at US$790-810 for fair average quality and $930-950 for special quality.
The black gram price is fluctuating depending on the domestic gold price and the Kyat-dollar exchange rate in the local forex market. Tracking the hike in gold prices and a strong dollar, the black gram price was on the high side.
“Newly harvested black gram (urad) in India started to enter the market. Although it is of inferior quality, there is a steady supply in India’s markets. The price is, therefore, not that high in India. The prices go up and down a bit in the domestic market following the dollar and gold market conditions. It happens for a while. Yet, we still cannot expect the price for the long term. We are not able to speculate on the price as we cannot look back at the events in the past seven years and the policies on pulses have changed. At present, it will be correlated with the gold price and exchange rate,” said an official of the ATC.
In late August, the dollar against Kyat peaked at K4,500 on the black market. Following that, the black gram price reached a record high of K2.1 million per tonne. Additionally, the prices of black gram in Myanmar are highly related to India’s import policy and weather impacts on pulse input and demand, the ATC forecasted.
According to a Memorandum of Understanding between Myanmar and India, India will import 250,000 tonnes of black gram and 100,000 tonnes of pigeon peas (tur) from Myanmar for five consecutive years from the 2021-2022 financial year to the 2025-2026 FY.
As per Agri World Mumbai, India’s pulses output dropped compared to that of previous years. The torrential rain in India this year affected the interest of the growers.
Myanmar conveyed over 754,116 tonnes of various beans and pulses worth $590.149 million to foreign trade partners between 1 April and 16 September 2022 in the current financial year 2022-2023. The country shipped over 611,529 tonnes of pulses and beans valued at $493.56 million to foreign markets by sea, and over 142,587 tonnes valued at $96.589 million were sent to the neighbouring countries through land borders.
Myanmar exported over two million tonnes of various pulses worth US$1.57 billion to foreign trade partners last financial year 2020-2021. The country shipped 1.24 million tonnes of pulses and beans worth $966.4 million to foreign markets through the sea route, and 786,920 tonnes worth $604.3 million were sent to the neighbouring countries through land borders.
Myanmar yearly produces approximately 400,000 tonnes of black gram and about 50,000 tonnes of pigeon peas. Myanmar is the top producer of the black gram which is primarily demanded by India, while pigeon peas, green grams and chickpeas are cultivated in Australia and African countries besides Myanmar. – NN/GNLM