Technological challenges undermine salt production

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 14 May 2019

Khin Tharaphy Oo / DMG

May 14, Sittwe

Since Arakan State’s salt manufacturing has been using a 30-year-old technology, the industry is struggling to move forward, said Arakan State Salt Manufacturers’ Association.

The outdated technology makes the state’s salt manufacturing business lose its market share and its production output has also decreased year after year, said U Than Win, secretary of the Association.

“Consumers prefer to white and fine-grained salt. But our salt is tainted with a muddy colour and the grain size is bigger. We don’t have machines to refine pure seawater salt. It’s not only us, other salt makers across Myanmar face the same dilemma. We need to upgrade our technology if we want higher profit margins,” he said.

Local salt makers used to export their salt to Bangladesh previously, but now it is banned. And the current quality of their salt is of a lower standard and manufacturers need technological assistance.

“The price this year is not much different from last year. A viss of rough salt fetched a price of 150 kyats last year and it is the same price this year. Since the decline in business cannot guarantee jobs for people, the number of salt makers is decreasing. The amount of salt imported from abroad is increasing now,” U Than Win said.

“Even though we can still produce and export salt, we are now importing salt from abroad. How can we accept this situation? We need leaders who are really proud of the salt making industry in our country; and salt makers should be provided loans,” he added.

Two types of salt, rough and soft salt are now being produced in Arakan State, but salt makers fail to produce customized salt. The number of salt makers is gradually decreasing.