U Kyaw Win

"Owing to continuous demand from the Indian since early June, the prices of some beans and pulses have increased by between 35 and 60 per cent compared with what they were in May, when demand was cool," he said.

Dr Myan Linn, a beans and pulses exporter in Yangon, said the demand from India this season was far higher than last year because unfavourable weather had limited that nation's February harvests. He added that similar problems might also hinder the upcoming September harvest.

Pigeon peas, or toor, were K700,000 a tonne in early August, an increase of about 35pc over the K520,000 price in May. Matpe, or black gram, was even more expensive at K740,000 a tonne, which was a 60pc increase over the K445,000 it cost in May, Dr Myan Linn said.

"Now raw matpe is about K73,000 for 60 viss [ 96 kilograms or 216 pounds] in the Yangon market and the special quality ready cargo [SQRC] variety have reached K810,000 a tonne because demand far exceeds the supply," said U Kyaw Win, the managing director of an export and import company that operates in Yangon.

Myanmar's supply shortfall was likely hampered by a number of farmers nationwide planting other crops after seeing beans and pulses stay low last year, another trader said.

The price of white chickpeas also soared to K640,000 a tonne, while green gram reached K610,000 a tonne in the first week of August, said Dr Myan Linn. Several exporters said that the Indian buyers were outbidding their Chinese rivals and the majority of exports were heading west rather than northeast. India annually imports about 3 million tonnes of assorted beans and pulses from the United States, Canada, Australia and Myanmar.

And exports of beans and pulses from Myanmar traditionally find their way to India - to the tune of about 70pc. The remainder is shipped to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.

These exports earned about US$680 million from about 1.271 million tonnes during the 2006-07 fiscal year.

In October 2006, Myanmar's matpe exports reached a record high of K1.1 million a tonne after about 40pc of India's September harvest was destroyed by torrential rain and associated flooding.

Source: The Myanmar Times website, Rangoon, in English 11 Aug 08

BBC Mon AS1 AsPol asw