Myanmar may resume bean exports to India in June

Aung Htay Hlaing/The Myanmar Times. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

NAYPYIDAW, Jun 5, 2019, The Myanmar Times. Myanmar may resume pulse and bean exports to India in the second week of June, said U Min Ko Oo, secretary of the Myanmar Pulses, Beans & Sesame Seeds Merchants Association. India stopped importing pulses from Myanmar in 2018 but said in March that it would allow an import quota of 500,000 tonnes of selected beans for a three month period during the 2019-20 fiscal year. This includes 150,000 tonnes each of mung beans and green beans and 200,000 tonnes of pigeon peas, reported The Myanmar Times.

The Indian government is expected to announce a list of companies permitted to export pulses and beans to the country between June 10 and 12, he said.

The development comes after President U Win Myint’s return from India last week. In February, Minister of Commerce U Than Myint also led a delegation of beam traders to India with proposals to increase the import quota of green grams to 400,000 tonnes this year. They also requested that the import period be extended from three months to a year and for new quotas to be announced ahead of Myanmar’s green gram harvest period in March.

Although India kept its quota for green grams to 150,000 tonnes, it agreed to the extension of the import period.

“But it seems like India is observing the weather and if they get less rain this year, demand could increase. As this year is a hot one, we have to watch and see how things unfold,” U Min Ko Oo said.

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