The conditions of Myanmar banana export to the Chinese market has gradually improved in recent weeks. The number of trucks that cross the border at Houqiao in Yunnan continues to grow. The import volume is also larger than a few months ago. He Zhongpu, the assistant CEO of Yunnan Jinxin Agriculture Co., Ltd. (hereafter referred to as 'Jinxin Company'), recently talked about current conditions in Myanmar banana export to China.
"The provincial government of Yunnan published three announcements with regard to the outbreak of Covid-19 around the 23rd of March. Even people without Covid-19 were not allowed to just cross the border through any port in Yunnan. The distribution process became segmented and banana import from Myanmar was temporarily disrupted. This situation continued until the middle of April. Only then did some ports reopen. The conditions in Houqiao are now improving, but there are still many difficulties that hinder the distribution process. For example, any truck driver who arrives at the border, whether the truck and the driver are Chinese or from Myanmar, has to unload all products in a designated area. A Chinese truck driver will then load all the products onto a Chinese truck and transport the shipment to its destination in China."
"Distribution was nearly impossible in March and April, and, as a result of these difficulties, many bananas were left to rot. Banana farmers in Myanmar lost as much as 3-4 thousand tons of bananas per day," explained manager He. "Data shows that our sales of Myanmar bananas in the Chinese market declined by 62% in the first five months of this year. This is not just the case for our company, but the entire Chinese banana industry saw the import of Southeast Asian bananas decline. In the last few weeks our company imported around 10 truck-loads of bananas per day, but our import volume is still not back to the same levels as last year."
"As for the price of bananas, the outbreak of Covid-19 is under control in China and consumer power is growing again. However, market supply of some products is still limited. The price of bananas from Myanmar was quite high because consumer demand was much higher than market supply. Now that the supply volume is growing, the price is falling again. The current market price of Myanmar bananas is 2.5-2.6 yuan [0.35-0.37 USD] per kg. Although banana farmers are still able to recover their investment, the profit margin is growing smaller," said manager He.
When asked about his predictions for the banana market in the next few weeks, he replied: "Banana farmers in Myanmar will start harvesting bananas in large volumes in June, which means that banana supply will grow, and so we prepare for another peak period of Myanmar banana import. However, it is still too early to tell how the price will develop during this period."
Jinxin Company owns a banana plantation in Kachin, north Myanmar. The plantation covers an area of 6,667 hectares. The main variety grown in this plantation is the Brazilian Williams banana, a sub-type of the popular Cavendish variety. The plantation has an annual production volume of 350 thousand tons.
When asked about the advantages of bananas from Myanmar, manager He replied: "The overall area devoted to banana plantation in north Myanmar exceeds 20 thousand hectares. These plantations can supply bananas all year round. The natural environment here is untouched by pollution and the soil is extremely fertile. Farmers here only use about one quarter of the pesticides and fertilizer used in Chinese plantations. Furthermore, the weather is warm and the difference in temperature between day and night is big. The product quality of these bananas is therefore excellent and the sugar content is high. The fruit peel is glossy and the flavor is much more glutinous than other bananas."
For more information:
He Zhongpu - Assistant CEO
Yunnan Jinxin Agriculture Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 13708752139
E-mail: [email protected]