China’s low demand drives peanut prices down to below K6,000 per viss

Supply of newly harvested peanuts from various regions to Mandalay markets caused prices to slide to below K6,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes), coupled with the low demand by China, according to the Mandalay commodity wholesale centre.
On 1 September, the peanut prices moved in the range between K6,800 and K7,200 per viss depending on varieties, whereas the prices declined to K4,700-k5,800 per viss on 28 October. The figures reflected a sharp decrease of K1,000 per viss over one month.
Additionally, the demand by the local oil millers has dropped significantly.
The prevailing price of peanut oil is around K12,000 per viss in the Mandalay market, following the price decrease of peanuts. In early September, the price of peanut oil touched a high of K14,500 per viss in the Mandalay market.
In April, the world’s top palm oil exporter Indonesia, which is one of the main oil suppliers to Myanmar, declared an export ban on cooking oil export to reduce the domestic shortage. Consequently, Myanmar’s Trade Department under the Ministry of Commerce temporarily suspended exports of oil crops (peanut and sesame) from 9 May in order to have oil self-sufficiency.
Exports of Myanmar’s edible oil crops resumed as the world’s top palm oil exporters returned to normalcy, according to a notification dated 5 July 2022 released by the Trade Department. — NN/GNLM