Ice suppliers in Arakan State face difficulties due to prolonged power outages

By DMG 20 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
20 March 2022, Sittwe

Ice manufacturers in Sittwe are struggling due to daily, lengthy power outages recently affecting much of Arakan State.

“When there is a power outage, we have to run our generators, and if the price of diesel goes up, we have to raise the price of ice a little bit,” U Win Zaw, the owner of Golden Fish ice factory in Sittwe, told DMG.

Making matters worse, fishing boats typically account for a significant portion of ice makers’ sales volume, purchasing large quantities of ice to preserve their catch, but many fishing boats have suspended their operations due to rising fuel prices.

“Fishing boats are no longer fishing due to rising fuel prices,” U Win Zaw said. “Few fishermen buy ice because they can’t catch so many fish and prawns. We make regular [potable] ice after the water is purified, and there are buyers of regular ice, but it is less profitable.”

At present, a 300-pound block of ice costs K5,000, leaving some businesses at a loss due to rising fuel and commodity prices.

Ma Ohnmar San, an ice factory owner in Sittwe, told DMG that despite the power outages, operations must continue.

“If the operation is stopped, the ice will melt and the quality will be poor, so we have to start the generator and run the business. Our business is not doing well because of rising fuel prices,” she added.

“Fuel prices have risen and electricity has not been available consistently, forcing generators to run. In some cases, due to power outages, ice production has been delayed,” said an unnamed ice factory owner in Sittwe. “In the past, electricity was normal, but now my business is not good because of production and fuel prices.”

Power outages have been a daily, multiple-times-a-day occurrence in Arakan State of late, with each outage typically lasting four hours or more, according to residents.

In a statement on March 5, the junta-controlled Ministry of Electricity and Energy said Myanmar’s power supply has declined because liquefied natural gas-run power plants have halted operations due to increased gas prices, and because electricity pylons supplying electricity from one of the country’s main hydropower plants were blown up.