Yangon market sees upward trajectory in jaggery, sugar prices

The prices of both jaggery and sugar are moving onward in the Yangon market, touching a high of K5,000 per viss of jaggery and K3,720 per viss of sugar on 31 August.
The prices of brown sugar (slab sugar) also rose to K3,000-3,100 per viss.
The prices of sugar were up by K320-K1,200 per viss in August.
In the coming sugarcane milling season, a sugar mill in Shan State will be equipped with one more machine with a sugarcane processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes and the one in Sagaing Region will install two more machines with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes each.
The leading sugar exporting country India can produce 150 tonnes per acre, while the maximum production rate in Myanmar is estimated at only 50 tonnes.
The sugarcane was offered at K38,000 per tonne in 2019 while the sugar price was below K1,000 per viss. When the sugar price climbed to K2,500 per viss at the end of 2022, the mill purchased the sugarcane at K95,000 per tonne. In July 2023, with the sugar price rising to K3,250 per viss, the sugarcane price also jumped to K110,000 per tonne.
As the mill offers a higher price for the sugarcane, the sugar price is also relatively higher at K3,720 per viss.
Jaggery from Yesakyo fetches a higher price compared to the one from Nyaung U which is whiter in appearance. It is commonly used in the Dawei area. The delta regions prefer NyaungU’s jaggery, U Thein Zan, a trader told the Global New Light of Myanmar.
The new sugar usually flows into the market three months earlier than jaggery. — TWA/EM