Prices of new Pawsan rice, sticky rice edge up

The newly harvested Pawsan rice flowed into the Yangon market at K50,000 per bag these days. The prices of sticky rice from the Pyapon area inched higher to K84,000 on 2 November from K78,000 per bag registered last week, Ko Kyaw Ko, a rice dealer working on Padauk Street told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
The prices of sticky rice from the Mawgyun area also increased from K70,000 to K76,000 in recent days. The harvest of Pawsan paddy in some delta regions has finished and the paddy fetched K1.4 million per 100-baskets (52 pounds per basket).
The farmers asked for the new Pawsan paddy at K1.5 million per 100-baskets yet the dealers do not offer that price. The price of old Pawsan rice started to fall this month amid the low demand, said rice traders.
The price of old Pawsan rice from the Pathein and Myaungmya areas decreased from over K700,000 to K60,000 per bag. At the end of 2021, the new Pawsan rice flowed into the market with only K40,000 per bag. It was valued at K45,000 per bag in early January 2022.
The price of new Pawsan rice produced this year is higher than that of last year. The price of Pawsan rice peaked at K70,000 per bag in mid-2022. Similarly, the price of Pawsan rice from the Shwebo area climbed up to K90,000 in the second half of 2022 from K40,000 per bag recorded in early 2022.
Those buyers who stock the rice for a year commonly purchase it in the mid-summer period due to the low moisture content. A rice seller said the market price in mid-2023 will certainly go up compared to the corresponding period of 2022. The sticky rice was worth around K60,000 per bag in the previous years but the price climbed up to K80,000 per bag this year, making the price of breakfast snacks such as steamed sticky rice and other related snacks rise.
Additionally, high prices of wheat, sugar and edible oil hiked up the prices of noodles, Naan, paratha, deep-fried dough (Youtiao) and bread. The consumers stressed the high cost of breakfast snacks. The low-income households are struggling with rocketing food and living costs.— TWA/GNLM