Tamarind stockholders expect good prices due to low yields

Due to the low yields in tamarind this year, tamarind stockholders are expecting the prices to rise, according to tamarind traders in the Bayintnaung sales centre.
From the second week of January, new tamarind began to enter the Yangon market. The wholesale price is K2,000 per viss, and the price dropped to K1,800 in the first week of February, according to U Min, a tamarind trader.
In January, the wholesale price of new tamarind was K2,200 per viss, the price of new Tamarind fruit was K3,200 per viss, and special grade of tamarind was K3,500 per viss, he explained.
On 30 May 2021, the same period last year, the wholesale price of new tamarind was K1,400-1,500, and the price of new tamarind flesh was K2,000-2,300, according to the wholesale price lists.
A few weeks after the first annual harvest of new tamarind in Pyay (Patigon), the tamarind from Yamethin, Kyaukpadaung, Popa, Mahlaing, and Pakokku, enter the market respectively.
Currently, due to the high stocks of tamarind produced in 2021 in the market, low exports, and high yields of citrus fruits and mangoes, which are used by consumers instead of tamarind in cooking, the price of tamarind is unlikely to rise this year, said U Han, who runs a tamarind sales centre at the Bayintnaung market. Shan tamarind is likely to enter the Yangon market this year due to the lower yields in areas where tamarinds are grown, said Ko Kaka, the owner of a tamarind sales centre. — TWA/GNLM