The corn produced in Shan State is a substitute crop of opium poppies.
Myanmar will export 60,000 tonnes of corn that are produced as an alternate crop replacing opium poppies in Shan State next month, Myanmar Corn Industrial Association stated.
China has been purchasing Myanmar’s corn through cross-border trade under the opium substitution programme. Legitimate corn trade between Myanmar and China commenced at the end of 2022. A total of 112 Myanmar companies have been given the green light for corn exports. Myanmar sends corn to China and Thailand through the border and also exports corn to China, India, Viet Nam and the Philippines by sea at present, according to the Myanmar Corn Industrial Association.
Thailand gives the go-ahead to corn imports under zero tariff (with Form D), between 1 February and 31 August. However, Thailand imposed a maximum tax rate of 73 per cent on corn imports to protect the rights of their growers if the corn is imported during the corn season of Thailand.
The FOB prices are US$270-290 per tonne of corn at present. The corn fetches K1,150-1,170 per viss in the domestic market, according to the Yangon Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Bayintnaung Commodity Centre).
Myanmar exported more than 2 million tonnes of corn to foreign trade in the 2022 corn season. The majority of them were sent to Thailand and the remaining went to China, India, the Philippines and Viet Nam.
More than two million tonnes of corn are expected to be shipped to foreign trade partners in the 2023 corn season, said U Min Khaing, chair of the Myanmar Corn Industrial Association.
The corn is cultivated in Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Kayin states and Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway regions. Myanmar has three corn seasons — winter, summer and monsoon. The country produces 2.5-3 million tonnes of corn every year. — NN/EM
