In early September, the consumers are facing the mounting burden of living costs owing to the soaring prices of imported goods and related products.
When the Kyat-dollar exchange rate decreased, the edible oil market had a price movement. Moreover, foreign onions are imported at a cheaper rate, which eased the inflation pressures on the consumers.
On 2 September, the price of large-sized onions hit a fresh peak at K3,850 per viss (a viss equals 1.6 kilogrammes). Later, onions were imported from foreign markets. The local onion prices declined to K3,100 per viss accordingly on 15 September, Ko Swe Lin, an onion buyer told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
Chinese onions were sold at K2,750 per viss on 13 September, K2,500 on 14 September and K2,100 on 15 September respectively. A trader named U Aung Win told the GNLM that a truckload of Chinese onions was seen entering Bayint Naung Wholesale Market on 14 September. “I witnessed onion bags unloading from the vehicles at 11 am on 15 September as well,” he added.
Chinese onions are a bit larger than the local ones in size. The price is around K1,000 cheaper than the local ones.
Onion traders intentionally called Chinese onions rotten food. The demand was low among the locals due to the large size. Those onions are primarily used in restaurants.
The wholesale price of local onions was down by K750 per viss in Yangon markets. Onions fetched the highest of K2,675 per viss in the Seikphyu area and K3,200 in the Pakokku area. Only two bags of onions were traded with the high price in those areas. Onions priced at K2,800 are commonly traded in the regions outside Yangon, as per the market data.
Although there was speculation about onion wholesale price reaching up to K4,000 per viss, the actual market price decreased below K3,000. The traders gave a reason for the low yield for the price rise. We will know if the reason is valid or not in the coming two months, the GNLM quoted Ko Naing Myint, a buyer, as saying.
In addition to onion, the palm oil wholesale price fell to K7,600 per viss on 14 September. Palm oil was priced at K8,000 that evening at the Bayintnaung Wholesale Market.
The wholesale price on 1 September hit a high of K9,700 per viss. The wholesale price was down by K2,000 per viss in 15 days in Yangon markets.
The price of palm oil stood at K8,000-8,200 per viss in the retail market on the evening of 14 September, the deep-frying businesspersons said.
On 29 August, the CIF price of palm oil was US$1,088 per metric tonne. As it was calculated on the foreign exchange rate of K2,550, the original price of palm oil was only K4,814 per viss. On 12 September, the CIF price of palm oil was US$989 per metric tonne. If it is calculated on the foreign exchange rate of K2,703, the original price of palm oil is only K4,639 per viss, according to the non-governmental edible oil dealers’ association.
The prices of chilli pepper bounced back to K19,000-19,500 per viss in recent days for the second time in 2022. Nonetheless, the transaction is rarely seen at the Bayintnaung and Nyaungpinlay wholesale markets, Ko Hla Oo, who lives in Latha Township and is working in the Bayintnaung Wholesale Market, told the GNLM.— TWA/GNLM
