YANGON – Leading Myanmar rice exporters decided to temporarily suspend exports Monday in an effort to stop prices rising during heavy floods across the country, traders said.
Traders decided at a meeting Monday to suspend exports until Sept 15, when rice is harvested at the end of the rainy season, said Soe Tun, vice chairman of Myanmar Rice Federation.
"This will help stabilise the rice price as rice is the primary food for Myanmar people, and the price always rises in such time of troubles," Soe Tun said.
The price of rice had risen sharply in some flooded areas, including in the western states of Chin and Rakhine, local media reported.
The MRF said it was planning to ship rice to flood-affected areas later this week, in corporation with other rice trader groups.
Myanmar exported more than 1.7 million tonnes of rice in the fiscal year 2014-2015, worth nearly US$645 million, a figure 40% higher than the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
Myanmar aims to have an annual rice yield of over 14 million tonnes, including about 2 million tonnes of rice for export, according to MRF.