Maritime trade drops by $4.3 bln in H1

The value of Myanmar’s maritime trade over the first half (1 Oct-2 Apr) of the current financial year 2020-2021 sank to US$10 billion, a drastic drop of over $4.3 billion as against the year-ago period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
While maritime exports were valued at $4.06 billion, imports have registered at $6.116 billion. Compared to the same period in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, imports fell by $2.78 billion, while exports reported a decrease of $1.53 billion.
Meanwhile, the value of trade through the border this FY was estimated at $5.6 billion, a decrease of $264 million as against a year-ago period.  Myanmar witnessed a slump in exports and imports triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Both sea trade and border trade dropped amid the coronavirus impacts and political changes.
The neighbouring countries tightened the border security and limited the trading time to contain the spread of the virus.
For maritime trade, disruption in the logistic sector, the suspension of some ocean liners and the pandemic-induced container shortage scaled-down the maritime trade somehow.
“The lack of money in circulation due to the closure of private banks decreases economic efficiency,” an exporter stressed.
The country’s total external trade touched a low of $15.78 billion, which plunged from $20.36 billion recorded in a year-ago period.
Myanmar’s sea trade generated $26 billion from an overall trade value of $36 billion in the last FY 2019-2020, the Ministry of Commerce’s statistics indicated.
Myanmar exports agricultural products, fishery products, minerals, livestock, forest products, finished industrial goods, and other products.
At the same time, it imports capital goods, consumer goods, and raw industrial materials.  The country currently has nine ports involved in sea trade. Yangon Port is the main gateway for Myanmar’s maritime trade. It includes the Yangon inner terminals and the outer Thilawa Port. — MM/GNLM