Arakan State coconuts fetching good prices due to high demand from Bangladesh

24 Jan 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 January 2023, Maungdaw

Coconuts grown in the Arakan State townships of Manaung, Thandwe and Gwa are fetching good prices due to high demand from Bangladesh, according to coconut dealers.

The selling price has almost doubled from K400 per piece to around K800 earlier this month thanks to demand from Bangladesh, according to coconut grower U Tun Win from Manaung Township.

“We get around K730 for a coconut now. Coconut prices have increased for around 20 days now. Buyers come and transport coconuts by vessels,” he said.

While a coconut is sold for around K500 at the local market in Thandwe Township’s Ngapali Beach, buyers are willing to offer up to K800 for coconuts they buy to export to Bangladesh, according to local residents.

“Last year, we only got around K200 for a coconut,” said one resident.

Coconuts are currently shipped to Bangladesh once a week. However, with few people growing coconuts in Arakan State, the supply will not meet the demand, said local business owner U Kyauk Taung.

Last year, there was also high demand from Bangladesh. But Arakan State only exported locally produced coconuts for three months, from January to March, before the supply was exhausted. Local exporters then had to order from outside Arakan State to fill the demand for exports to Bangladesh.

“We exported large volumes last year,” said U Kyauk Taung. “We even had to buy coconuts from Ayeyarwady Region for exports after the stocks of locally grown coconuts ran out. Stocks will run out this year, too. Bangladesh has a population of 170 million people, and even if they only eat one coconut per person, locally grown coconuts are not enough to supply them.”

Border trade with Bangladesh is mainly carried out via the Maungdaw and Sittwe border trade camps. Myanmar primarily exports ginger, onion, pepper, plum and fisheries products to Bangladesh.