Salt, a gifted item of nature

The sun-dried salt production can be mainly found in coastal regions like Ayeyawady Region, Mon State and Rakhine State. The Mon and Rakhine states produce salt only about 34 per cent, but the Ayeyawady Region has 66 per cent.
The Ayeyawady Region is a focal salt production region, mainly in Labutta, Ngaputaw and Pyapon townships. The coarse salt received from traditional salt production methods like seawater is pooled into evaporative farms to make salt that is transported to the salt factories by the salt farmers.
In the last week of September 2023, the government signed a MoU with the South Korean government to export quality coarse salt from Mon State, according to the Mon State Salt Trader Association.
“Arrangements are being made to export the coarse salt from this region to the Korean market. It is likely to create a firm foreign market for salt farmers,” said a salt trader.
The coarse salt from the Ayeyawady Region, Mon and Rakhine states are being transported to the regions and states.
“The coarse salt fetched K120-K130 per viss last year. It is only K70-K80 per viss this year. The salt businesspeople cannot profit from high production costs, employee fees and warehouse rental fees,” said U Zaw Htay, who runs a salt production business in Pyapon Township.
Some salt farmers are watching the market status despite the typical transaction of coarse salt, and the profits and losses can be estimated at the end of the salt season, April.
Although there is a high local demand for Myanmar’s salt, the coarse salt market is not controlled due to the lack of raw industrial materials and export market the salt farmers considered.
Although the slat production industry took a long time and required hundreds of workers before Cyclone Nargis, the destruction of stored coarse salt, salt fields and flaws made flaws in the local salt market during the period of Nargis and the salt was imported from foreign countries, according to market indexes.
“The slat market was ruined after the Nargis. The slat was imported from foreign countries. The imported salt is better than the locally-produced salt and occupies the market at good prices. If the locally-produced salt is processed with high technology and packing to export, it can get firm foreign market,” said U Zaw Htay.
The salt farmers start the sun-dried salt production in October yearly. They first dig farms and fill them with seawater. After four months, the coarse salt is ready to be distributed to the market.
“We cannot make salt in the rainy season. The salt season lasts from the end of the rainy season to the summer. It takes about seven months. It costs over K500,000 per farm,” a salt producer told The Global New Light of Myanmar.
Although the salt is produced from boiling processes, sun-dried salt was produced from 1963 to 1964 in Kyaikkhami. Since then, the sun-dried salt production process has become widespread nationwide. The government controlled salt production and trade, but salt was recognized as an essential goods under the 1965 fisheries products order, and salt trading was also exempted in 1976. Then, the number of salt producers started growing, and the salt production industry developed.
The officials need to provide finance and modern techniques to establish the modern salt mill and improve the existing salt mills. If so, it can reduce the reliance on salt imports and export of locally-produced quality salt to foreign markets.
Translated: KTZH