Myanmar coffee beans fetch $5,000 per tonne

Robust domestic and foreign demand for Myanmar’s coffee beans pushed the price to US$5,000 per tonne, according to the Myanmar Coffee Association.
“Over 9,000 tonnes of coffee beans are yearly exported to external markets. The prevailing prices of coffee beans are $4,500-5,000 per tonne,” said an official of the association.
Myanmar’s speciality coffee beans are highly demanded due to their high quality and organic production. Speciality coffee fetches a good price as well. Myanmar ships coffee beans to the external market without affecting domestic consumption, according to the Myanmar Coffee Association.
Myanmar’s coffee has already earned a good reputation.  It has penetrated markets in Switzerland, China Taipei (Taiwan), Thailand, UAE, the UK, Hong Kong SAR, China, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, England, Germany, Australia, Canada and the US.
Myanmar’s coffee export dropped by half last year on the weak demand triggered by the coronavirus. At present, the market has returned to normality.
“Coffee exports are quite early this year. Normally, transactions happen in June after taking samples. Traders have been buying coffee beans since December 2021. This year, both the yield and exports increased,” said an official of the Coffee Research, Information, Extension and Training Centre in PyinOoLwin, Mandalay Region.
About 500 tonnes of speciality quality Arabica coffee produced in PyinOoLwin, Mandalay Region, are conveyed to eight foreign countries this year.
Myanmar’s coffee has grabbed a market share in the US, with the support of USAID and Winrock International NGO.
At present, efforts are being exerted to form a coffee central group including the related departments and region and state governments with an aim to penetrate the international market and improve the whole supply chain, value chain and distribution channels (production, packaging, trading, attracting investment and building foreign market connection). The chair of the Myanmar Coffee Association, the Coffee Producers and Exporters Association, coffee growers’ groups and representatives from the private sector are included in the central committee. The central committee targets to achieve those goals, increasing coffee plantation acres, utilizing the quality coffee seeds, improving the yield, producing speciality coffee, and foreign market expansion.
There are 40,000 acres of highland coffee (Arabica) plantations and about 10,000 acres under lowland coffee (Robusta) in Myanmar, totalling 50,000 acres. Shan State is the main producer of coffee beans. The annual yield is estimated at over 9,000 tonnes of coffee beans. Coffee beans are harvested between December and February. They are distributed and exported throughout the year after harvest time. — KK/GNLM