Black gram price regains to K1.7 million per tonne

The price of black gram bounced back to above K1.7 million per tonne on 26 January after the market was stagnant at K1.657 million per tonne between 18 and 23 January 2023. India notified on 28 December 2022 that the free import policy of black gram (urad) and pigeon pea (tur) extended up to March 2024.
At present, black gram price fluctuation is positively related to the Kyat value against the US dollar. Kyat was exchanged for around K2,860 against the US dollar in the unofficial market on 26 January 2023.
In late August, the dollar against Kyat peaked at K4,500 in the black market. Following that, the black gram price reached a record high of K2.1 million per tonne.
Myanmar bagged over US$1 billion from more than 1.3 million tonnes of pulses exports in the past ten months of the current financial year. Of them, black gram exports earned $450.294 million from 543,731.58 kilogrammes, the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics showed.
Myanmar primarily exports black gram, green gram and pigeon peas. Of them, black gram and pigeon peas are mainly sent to India while green grams are shipped to China and Europe.
India has growing demand and consumption requirements for black gram and pigeon peas. According to a Memorandum of Understanding between Myanmar and India signed on 18 June 2022, India will import 250,000 tonnes of black gram and 100,000 tonnes of pigeon peas (tur) from Myanmar for five consecutive years from 2021-2022 financial year to 2025-2026FY. This G-to-G pact will not affect the pulses annual quota set by India. Myanmar’s exporters are also entitled to deliver the pulses to India under that annual quota.
Myanmar yearly produces approximately 400,000 tonnes of black gram and about 50,000 tonnes of pigeon peas. Myanmar is the top producer of the black gram that is primarily demanded by India, while pigeon peas, green grams and chickpeas are cultivated in Australia and African countries besides Myanmar. – NN/EMM