Myanmar's first central rubber market to be built during the next financial year at Mawlamyine in Mon State

Myanmar's first central rubber market will be built at Mawlamyine in Mon State as authorities seek to help the industry amid low prices and sluggish sales.

Mon State is the country’s top rubber producer and the commodity is considered a “promising export” in Myanmar’s National Export Strategy (NES).

However, local planters have struggled to sell internationally due to issues with quality and falling global prices.

The NES highlights the need for a central rubber market, said U Win Myint, director of the Department of Export Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce.

It is set to be built in a compound on Ministry of Commerce-owned land in Mawlamyine, and will be jointly managed by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, and the Myanmar Rubber Planters and Producers Association (MRPPA).

“This establishment will help rubber planters to sell their wares,” said MRPPA secretary U KhaingMyint.

Exporters will be able to buy through an auction system at the market – planters can refuse to sell if they are not happy with the bid, though exporters will be blacklisted if they don’t buy at their bid price, he said.

Beside Mon State, Tanintharyi, Bago and Ayeyarwady regions are also major rubber producers.

Mon State was the first choice for a market, as it is the largest producer, U KhaingMyint said.

“If this is successful, we will establish rubber markets in other states and regions. But it is a long-term plan – we need to take it step-by-step.”

The new market will be based on an MRPPA study of rubber markets in Thailand and will be built

during the next financial year. U KhaingMyint said a related law is being drafted and a regulatory body will also need to be formed.

With help from Japan, a laboratory for testing the quality of rubber has been set up in Yangon, and Myanmar is also applying for membership at the International Rubber Association (IRA) in Malaysia.

“It is quite difficult to get a certificate from IRA. Our laboratory is necessary to become a member, as every product certified by the laboratory is globally recognised,” U KhaingMyint said.

Myanmar’s rubber growers have struggled to produce high-quality products.

Of the four tyre factories in the country, only one – the Yangon Tyre factory – is able to export, according to the MRPPA.

Three of the country’s four tyre factories are owned by the state, two by the Ministry of Industry and the other by military-owned Myanmar Economic Cooperation, and their quality is not up to an international standard, the industry body said.

Yangon Tyre Factory, the only privately owned plant, has been exporting to Malaysia for two years, in batches of 800, by sea. The company has earned about US$200,000 by exporting a total of 3200 tyres at $60 each, said marketing director HtinKyawOo.

Rubber growers believe this kind of success indicates the need for more factories capable of exporting.

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