Myanmar onions for Bangladesh

Myanmar may supply enough onions to fill the demand-supply gap in Bangladesh, a top Myanmar official has said.

U Tin Soe, deputy director general of Mandalay trade promotion department, said Bangladesh's demand-supply shortfall in onions was around 300,000 tonnes.
 
"We can make up quite a bit of it," Soe said on Wednesday.
 
Myanmar onion growers suffered a sharp drop in export -- down from 58,515 tonnes in 2013-14 to 35,350 tonnes in 2014-15.
 
That could come down to 21,162 tonnes in the 2015-16 fiscal.
 
The drop has taken place primarily because China has been importing less of Myanmar onions.
 
Myanmar now produces 1 million tonnes of onion annually and consumes just 600,000 tonnes.
 
"We can easily make up the whole demand in Bangladesh,” Soe said.
 
At the moment, onion farmers across Myanmar are a worried lot because of production much in excess of local consumption and exports.
 
Soe said Myanmar could guarantee Bangladesh 'stable prices' and 'steady delivery'.
 
Bangladesh has been importing onions from India but the prices fluctuate depending on the vagaries of the Indian market where a bad drop drives up local prices and diminishes the urge to export.