Browse Data and Analysis

Post forecasts Burmese rice exports higher in September with increasing demand for Burmese rice due to India’s policies restricting rice exports. Despite larger domestic rice supplies from the new rice crop, domestic prices for both Emata and Shwe Bo Pawsan rose significantly. The depreciation of the Myanmar kyat and high production costs have continued putting upward pressure on domestic rice prices.

Burma’s beans and pulses production in MY 2021/22 is forecast to decrease due to reduced use of fertilizers and pesticides and a return to rice production in low-land areas with the expectation of favorable weather.

In April 2021, Burma’s rice exports are forecast to decline overall due to the long Burmese New Year Holidays and border gate closures between China and Burma to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Since Burma initiated a series of political and economic reforms in 2011, U.S. agricultural exports have grown over 80-fold, reaching a record $174 million in 2019 and $167 million in 2020.

The Burmese military’s February 1, 2021 coup will negatively impact agricultural trade at least in the short-term due to the country-wide Civil Disobedience Movement, which involves widespread labor strikes in opposition to the military’s action.