During three months of the current fiscal year, Myanmar earned over 250 million US dollars from the exports of around 900,000 tons of rice and broken rice, according to Myanmar Rice Federation.Till December 27 of 2019-20 FY, Myanmar exported 894,889.703 tons of rice and broken rice worth 256.452 million US dollars.

Myanmar exports rice to the EU and Africa via sea route and China via Muse border trade.During three months, Myanmar earned over 34 million US dollars from exports of over 130,000 tons of rice and broken rice via border trade. Border trade accounted for 15 per cent of the total rice export.Myanmar earned over 220 million US dollars from exports of over 760,000 tons of rice and broken rice via sea route. It made up over 85 per cent of the total rice export.

The MRF is taking necessary measures to deal with the declining rice price in the summer paddy harvest season and the farmers’ difficulties. It is found that the business is weak due to the difficulties in warehouse, paddy drying and transport.In the past, only 11 companies exported rice to China. Currently, more than 40 rice export companies have been chosen. They can export rice to China after the list is sent to China.

Source: Eleven Media

The grand opening ceremony of the Toyo Ink factory worth US$8.4 million is held at Thilawa SEZ in Thanlyin Township on November 30 and will be run starting from December 1. The company has been granted five-year tax exemption from the government as it made the investment in Thilawa SEZ. “They assumed that the business will be good as people from printing and food packaging sectors are taken interested in this business. It will be run in next month,” said the assistant manager.

At the present, the company will be run with 20 staffs and the company took about over a year to prepare for the factory. It will appoint local staffs later. The company is producing ink for printing industry and food packaging products and had investments in 23 countries including Thailand and Indonesia. The company is start established in 1986 and it is intended to expand its business in Myanmar.

A total of 99 per cent of 405 hectares in Zone A of Thilawad SEZ are sold and about 50 per cent of Zone B are already sold. Toyota is building automobile assembled plant on 21 hectares of land space at the Zone B and it is planning to start the production in 2021, according to Myanmar-Japan Thilawa Development Company Limited (MJTD). The MJTD has 2,400 hectares in Thilawad SEZ and Zone A has 405 hectares. Zone B  is being developed in 3 phases.  About 79 per cent of phase 1, 49 per cent of phase 2 and 62 per cent of phase 3 have been sold.

Source: Eleven Myanmar 

Toyota Myanmar Co. Ltd held a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site for its new manufacturing plant at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone on Friday, 1 November, 2019. The US$52.6 million plant is expected to be operating from February 2021 onwards. It will produce 2500 Toyota Hilux pickup trucks per year using the semi knock-down method. Around 130 jobs will be created. Toyota currently imports the Hilux, Vios, Rush and other vehicles for sale in Myanmar.

The company’s plan is to ride on rising demand for automobiles in Myanmar. In 2018, more than 18000 new vehicles were sold in the country, which is 2.1 times more than the previous year’s, according to available data. By 2020, automakers estimate that the number of vehicles driven in Myanmar will exceed 2 million. However, Toyota is likely to face strong competition by other car makers which already operate facilities in Myanmar when its plant opens for business in 2021.

Among the competition is Suzuki Myanmar Motor Co Ltd, which claims to now command 60 percent of the market for new cars in Myanmar, according to Keiichi Asano, managing director of the Suzuki Myanmar. The Japanese car maker this year produced 15,000 vehicles compared to 12,000 in 2018, representing a 25 percent increase in year-on-year production, the company said. Japan is now the tenth largest investor in Myanmar, with a total of 117 entities having channeled US$1.2 billion worth of capital into the country since 1988, according to DICA.

Source: Myanmar Times 

The cement manufacturing plant’s opening ceremony was held at LOTTE Hotel on Pyay Toad on Friday evening. The ceremony was attended by officials from the Ministry of Construction, ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Myanmar Mr. Lee Sang Hwa and Kim Jong Sik, Managing Director of Yojin cement plant.

“The plant was built in Thilawa SEZ in 2016 with a US$ 60 million investment by Korea, and the plant started operating in 2018. The plant will manufacture slab cement for the first time for the Myanmar construction sector,” said Ko Aung Pyat Phone, manager of Yojin cement plant.

Slab cement is used in construction. It is made from mixing ordinary cement and powder derived from steel. Although Yojin cement plant can produce 3,000 tons of cement per day, it will produce only 1,500 to 2,000 tons of cement per day, based upon market demand. The plant can produce about one million tons of cement per year.

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Wilmar Myanmar and its partners, National Infrastructure Holdings Co, First Top Group and Riceland International, on Sunday announced the opening of a new flour mill and consumer pack edible oil processing plant in Thilawa Special Economic Zone, Yangon. The mill will have the capacity to produce 530 tonnes of wheat flour per day, while the processing plant will handle 460 tonnes of edible oil a day.

Wilmar Myanmar is a subsidiary of Singapore-listed Wilmar International, one of the largest agribusinesses in Asia. The company trades in palm oil, protein feeds, consumer pack edible oils, sugar, and other food products. Wilmar Myanmar produces the Meizan brand of edible oils and plans to introduce new sauces and food products in the local market.

The company also operates the Wilmar Myanmar Port Terminal in Thilawa under a 50-year build, operate and transfer agreement with the government. For the first six months of the year, Wilmar International reported revenues totalling US$20.2 billion, down by 7.6 percent over the same period last year, and earnings of US$427 million, which is down by around 20pc during the period. This was due to the outbreak of African swine flu in its key markets.

Source: Myanmar Times 

Separate land areas are being planned to establish special zones related to textile and garment in Yangon and Mandalay regions, according to the ministry of industry.

Union Minister for Industry Khin Maung Cho said plans were underway to adopt a national level textile policy with the help of Germany’s GIZ with the aim of developing Myanmar’s textile industry, boosting investment by inviting foreign trade partners, getting necessary infrastructure, boosting export market and reducing import.

He said national textile policy is part of National Export Strategy-NES. The minister made such remarks during the activities of his ministry in the third year of the government term. The commerce ministry is taking charge of implementing the NES with 11 sectors. Among those sectors, textile and clothing sector is being implemented by the No (3) Heavy Industries under the ministry of industry by forming a committee.

Source: Eleven Media

Local production of Chang Beer begins at the new state-of-the-art brewery, with the launch of nationwide distribution seeing products hit the shelves this week. Bottling come in five formats – 330ml and 500ml cans, 320ml and 620ml bottles and a 30-litre keg.

Chang Beer is kicking off under the motto #TimeForAChange #TimeForChang #ChangBeer, a major commitment by Fraser and Neave Limited (F&N) launching commercial operations at Emerald Brewery Myanmar Limited, a year after committing an investment of a hefty US$70 million in Myanmar.

Emerald Brewery follows the same approach taken at the Chang Beer brewery in Thailand, right down to the water treatment, recipe and ingredients used – ensuring the water’s high purity and adhering to WHO standards. Sustainability and innovation are grounded in the operations at Emerald Brewery in terms of solar, energy-saving, and wastewater treatment – everything a modern state-of-the-art brewery should be.

Source: Mizzima