As most of the domestic businesses have widely used bamboo handicrafts, market demand for bamboo is rising, according to U Kyaw Win, a bamboo expert.
Recently, most of the domestic business persons have started to buy and use bamboo handicrafts that were created naturally, and the consumption seems to exceed the production even in the domestic market, making a market expansion.
“Bamboo handicrafts have a high market demand, but there are fewer people working in the industry. In the domestic market, demand is higher than production. Market seems to be big as there are fewer producers. Interest in bamboo handicrafts is growing recently. Demand was present before, but it has increased now. People are more interested in these small natural handicrafts than plastic products. In case of small bungalows, compared to steel and iron, those made of bamboo are more natural and more acceptable to people. A friend of mine usually sells K 250,000-300,00 a day. If he sells bamboo products, his sales rise to K 700,000-800,000. If you sit long on a plastic or iron chair, you will get hot. But, bamboo chairs have a different story. You won’t get hot even you sit for a long time. It can relax you and as it is healthy, beautiful and natural, people prefer bamboo products, ” he said.
With more widespread consumption, local firms cannot fulfill all export orders for bamboo handicrafts and its export is small, he added.
“Bamboo handicrafts are in high demand in the domestic market, but there is only a small amount of export. And regarding bamboo, there is a lot of demand for bamboo charcoal. As for poles, we are seeing a lot of orders from abroad,” he said.
MT/ZN
