Summer onion price inches higher to K5,100 per viss

The price of summer old onions (large size) inflated from K4,900 to K5,000 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes) in the Yangon wholesale markets.
On 2 December 2022, over 100,000 visses of onions were supplied to the Yangon market, with K50,000 viss each of new onions and old onions and K5,000 viss of Chinese onions.
The wholesale prices stood at K4,000-5,100 per viss of old onions from the Myingyan area, K3,600-4,800 per viss from the Seikphyu area, K3,300-4,400 per viss of new onions from the Myingyan area, K3,600-4,700 per viss of Myittha onions and K3,000 per viss of Chinese onions (which is similar to onions from Myittha area).
Following the entry of 116,964 visses of new onions to Pakokku Commodity Centre on 2 December, the maximum price was K3,250 per viss. At Myingyan Commodity Centre, they were priced the highest at K3,500 and the lowest at K1,500 per viss.
The highest price of onions from Myittha was K3,800 per viss in the Mandalay market. High prices in regions outside Yangon pushed up the prices in the Yangon market as well, Ko Thein Win, an onion seller at Baying Naung Wholesale Market, told the Global New Light of Myanmar.
The onion-producing countries are facing a drop in outputs due to the weather impacts. The prices are on the rise in those countries, according to foreign grocery market news.
In 2019, onion price hit a record high of K3,500 per viss on the back of strong demand by Bangladesh. At the end of October this year, the price (around K2,000 per viss) in Bangladesh decreased by half compared to the market price (K4,200) in Myanmar.
The price in China also increased from 2.3 Yuan in end-October to 3.2 Yuan in early December. The Yuan exchange rate is K296.3 so Chinese onions fetch K1,450 per viss these days.
Despite the entry of new monsoon onions, the onion price is still strong. The summer onions that are being cultivated are expected to enter the market at high prices. It is the same occurrence that millers and traders of paddy had to buy new monsoon paddy at a higher price.
Consequently, traders will sell them back by raising the price more for sure. Hopefully, we can reach the market price. Most of the consumers are muttering about the inflation of locally produced rice and onions for two years and calling for a fair market scheme. — TWA/EMM