Myanmar’s maritime trade drops by 5.6 bln in 10 months

Myanmar’s maritime trade reached US$ 1.57 billion as of 23 July in the current financial year 2020-21 which started in October, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The country’s export through maritime routes hit $ 6.58 billion while its import reached $ 9.11 billion during the period from 1 October to 23 July this year. Compared to the same period in the 2020-21 fiscal year, imports fell by $3.96 billion, while exports reported a decrease of $1.66 billion. Total external trade value saw a significant drop of $5.6 billion compared to the same period of last FY.
Both maritime trade and border trade dropped amid the coronavirus impacts. The country currently has nine ports involved in the sea trade. Yangon Port is the main gateway to Myanmar’s maritime trade and includes Yangon inner terminals and the outer Thilawa Port.
Myanmar exports agricultural products, animal products, minerals, forest products, and finished industrial goods, while it imports capital goods, raw industrial materials, and consumer goods.
The external trade stood at $36.73 billion in the 2019-2020 FY, $35.147 billion in the 2018-2019 FY, $18.728 billion in the 2018 six-month mini budget period, $33.578 billion in the 2017-2018 FY and $29.209 billion in the 2016-2017 FY respectively, as per the Commerce Ministry’s statistics.
Meanwhile, the country’s total foreign trade registered over $12.31 billion as of 23 July this 2020-21 FY, of which its border trade registered over $5.7 billion.—GNLM