Imports down by $3.3 bln as of 28 May, MoC reports

The value of Myanmar’s imports between 1 October and 28 May in the current financial year 2020-2021 stood at US$10 billion, a sharp drop of $3.338 billion from $13.397 billion registered in the year-ago period, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.
The value of imports in the consumer, capital, intermediate goods, and CMP businesses groups declined in the current FY. The drop in foreign direct investment this year negatively affected the trade.
In nearly eight months of the current FY, capital goods, such as auto parts, vehicles, machines, steel, and aeroplane parts, were brought into the country. Their import value was estimated at $3.6 billion. The figure was over $1.556 billion lower than those registered in the same period of the previous FY.
Meanwhile, Myanmar imported consumer products worth $2.08 billion, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and palm oil. The imports of consumer products showed a slight decrease of $189 million compared with the same period in the previous FY.
Intermediate goods make up the second-largest share of Myanmar’s imports, with petroleum products and plastic raw materials being the main import items. This year, imports of raw materials plunged to $3.34 billion from $4.45 billion registered during the year-ago period.
During the same period, $989 million worth of raw materials were also imported for the Cut-Make-Pack (CMP) garment sector. It showed a decrease of $488 million compared with the last budget year.
At present, the CMP garment sector, which contributes to 30 per cent of Myanmar’s export sector, is struggling due to the cancellation of order from the European countries and suspension of the trade by western countries amid COVID-19. Therefore, import values of raw materials by CMP businesses have been dropping.
The top 10 import countries to Myanmar are China, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Viet Nam, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the US, as per data of the Ministry of Commerce. — GNLM