· Very few cargoes and highway trucks arriving and departing Rangoon’s Bayint Naung wholesale market in July. Highway truck drivers complain about high toll fees, bridge crossing fees, road taxes, entrance fees, fees to the traffic police and etc. Transport charges have declined about 10% due to less cargo. The overall market situation is quiet and slow, said the traders there. On the Mandalay-Rangoon highway, Tuangoo bridge crossing fee is the highest, said the drivers. Crossing fees at the bridge for a 10-wheel cargo truck is kyats 8500.
· Due to less traffic with the highway cargo trucks, the tyre shops are also facing declining business. Almost all the cargo trucks use Chinese made cheap tyres.
· Rice wholesale market is also facing slow business, said the rice merchants there. Although the rice market is slow, broken rice market is enjoying brisk business. Broken rice is in great demands by the animal feed manufacturers, local wine distilleries and by local snack shops. There are also some areas in Burma, which depend on broken rice for their staple meals, because broken rice is cheaper than the normal whole grain rice. There are also big quantities of broken rice exports to China through the border trade.
· Rice merchants from Bayint Naung wholesale market could not go to the rice fields and buy direct from the farmers anymore, because every township has their own licensed rice merchants (buyers) appointed by the government. Farmers are also unable to sell with competitive prices because the rice prices are set and controlled by the government buyers. Thus, the farmers are also carefully calculating and controlled their production costs.
· Pulses and beans market in Bayint Naung wholesale market is also in a sleepy and yawning state. Many pulses and beans merchants moved out from the market, to reduce the shop rental costs, which become a burden for them. There were some purchases for exports, but the quantities were small. Most big pulses and beans exporters have established purchasing posts at the producing areas and buy direct from the farmers. The exporters buy at Bayint Naung market only when they are short with their required quantity for exports. Most shop owners could not go to the villages and buy direct from the farmers because they can not compete with the big companies. Thus, most pulses and beans merchants at the Bayint Naung wholesale market have to wait the buyers from the big companies. Cash flow is another problem with the pulses and beans merchants in the wholesale market, said the market sources.
· Chilli and onion merchants are also expecting for a chance to get permission to export legally. Until now, the onion illegal exports to Thailand and Malaysia with coastal schooners were also stopped, due to bad weather at the sea. Thus, onion sales prices slipped 20% lower than the production costs said the merchants.
· All the businesses are idling. Mandalay people are saying that, “Since it’s raining, let’s take things easy. Since it’s Buddhist lent, better sleep.” Many youths are heading for toddy palm plantations to drink toddy wine in the outskirts of Mandalay.
· The toddy plantations offer not only toddy wine but also local delicacies and exotic appetizers such as barbecued rats, fried lizards, fried grasshoppers and smoked rabbits. The toddy plantations are also good places for social gatherings. Nowadays, there are not many toddy plantations left, because the plantations were seized by the government and turned them into industrial zones.
· Car prices have increased 10% in June and 15% again in the middle of July, due to the import tax hike and there are rumours that actions will be taken on the illegally imported unlicensed cars.
· Multilevel marketing companies have resurrect in the market with healthcare (Lin Ze mushroom) products. Multilevel companies were popular in Burma in mid and late 90s with expensive Chinese traditional medicines and healthcare products, but were forced out of the market after complaints from the customers were raised in the Burmese media.
· Kumudra weekly business journal is hiring 16 full time reporters and the publication has the biggest journalists force among the other local publications. The demands for qualified reporters are increasing in Burma, said the media sources.
· Inland water cargo transports have declined along Irrawaddy River.
· Onion prices flat.
· Pulses and beans market slow.
· Cotton planting acreage increasing, due to the government’s relaxation on cotton exports.
· Corn prices up.
· Bamboo shoots market active in central Burma. There is the danger of degrading bamboo forests.
· Declining cashew nuts harvest in Rakkhine State.
· There are 2298 offshore fishing trawlers registered in Burma. Recently, the government issued fishing licenses to 450 trawlers and 50 purse sine net boats from Thailand. Burma usually imposes fishing ban from 1st June to 31st August in its near-shore and inland fishing grounds. Many offshore fishing boats enter into the near-shore fishing grounds and the storm shelters to catch fishes. Marine conservation has become an important issue, said the short article.
· Jelly fish harvests and market in western Burma not doing well this year.
· Cold storage and ice factories in Rakkhine state face slow business this year. Many ice factories are closed.
· Many shrimp farms in Rakkhine State were damaged by the storm which hit Rakkhine State in June.
· Hilsa fish catches have increased in Rakkhine State. Schools of hilsa are found in Rakkhine coast this year.
· Road transport costs to Rakkhine State have risen. Coastal transports to Sittwe have stopped because the previous storm destroyed the cargo jetty of the city.
· Food and Consumer product prices are up in Rakkhine state. Everything is more expensive than Rangoon and proper Burma, said a resident there.
· Traffic accidents increased in south-east Burma’s Moulmein city, due to increased numbers of motorcycles in the city.
· Floods in a satellite town of Mouldmein, where the families from the new railroad were relocated.
· Telephone rentals in Moulmein increased to kyats 50,000 per month from kyats 30,000/month.