India is reducing an existing window to import 400,000 tonnes of Myanmar black gram from one year to three months, the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced last month.
The 400,000-tonne import quota will now lapse in August.
U Min Ko Oo, Secretary of Myanmar Pulses, Beans and Sesame Seeds Merchants Association, said the reasons for the change might be to urge Indian traders to import sooner to avoid losses for local farmers during the bean harvesting season in India, which takes place in September.
But the new policy is unfavourable to Myanmar, as the country will now have to export the whole year’s black gram quota in just three months.
“We can’t export 400,000 tonnes of black gram by August. We can export only according to the original schedule which was to end in March 2021,” U Min Ko Oo said.
Based on his estimates, Myanmar may only be able to send up to 250,000 tonnes of the beans within that timeframe.
If India’s local bean harvest is good and the import period is not extended, Myanmar will grow black gram only in October and November to avoid an oversupply, the association said.
However, prices of the beans are expected to remain relatively stable. “Transactions will be faster within that period so there won’t be big price fluctuations for both countries,” U Min Ko Oo said.
Myanmar exports the bulk of locally harvested black grams to India. As India’s policies have been volatile recently, farmers in Myanmar have replaced the crop with mung beans to manage supply.
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