Jade, gem and pearl sale beats previous auctions

Traders at a gem emporium in Yangon in 2005 examine blocks of jade for sale.
Pic: Hein Latt Aung

SALES and attendance figures at the Jade, Gems and Pearl Special Sales 2011 in Nay Pyi Taw’s Zabuthiri township smashed those set at previous auctions, a Myanmar Gems Enterprise spokesperson said last week.

The sale, held at the Mani Yadana Jade Hall, ran from July 1 to 13, and bettered the 48th Myanma Gems Emporiumthat ran from March 10-22 in terms of the number of attendees and the amount of items up for sale.

The majority of lots available for auction at the sale was – as usual – jade; of the 22,317 jade lots available, some 15,149 were sold, the spokesperson said. Less successful were the gem lots – only 38 of the 284 lots on offer were purchased, while 288 of the Myanmar Pearl Enterprise’s 355 lots were sold.

The spokesperson did not say how much the sale had earned but total sales from the 48th Gems Emporium amounted to 2 billion euros, or about US$2.8 billion at the time.

“At the 48th Gems Emporium in Nay Pyi Taw in mid-March we exhibited about 20,000 jade and 255 pearl lots,” the spokesperson said. “But sales during the Jade, Gems and Pearl Special Sales 2011 are higher than the March gem emporium – about 1500 more jade lots were sold this time,” he said.

He added that the 13-day auction also attracted 9366 buyers – both local and international – beating the approximately 8700 who attended the March sale.

“More than 4700 buyers from [mainland] China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Japan attended the event, with the majority of buyers from China,” he added.

A Myanmar Pearl Enterprise spokesperson said that the number of pearl lots sold appeared to be rising at every auction.

“At the gem emporium in November last year, we exhibited 276 pearl lots and sold about 230. We bettered that at the March emporium by 25 lots and sold 58 more at this special sale,” he said.

Ko Aung Zaw, a jade trader from Mandalay, said the quality of the stones at the just-completed sale was exceptionally high.

“I visit every emporium and the quality of the stones at the special sale was better than ever, and there was a wider variety to choose from,” he said.

Ko Aung Zaw said he had purchased five jade lots for about 10,000 euros ($14,000) each.

One trader told The Myanmar Times after the March auction that all sales are conducted in euros to evade US financial sanctions.

Meanwhile, the shortage of hotel rooms available in the capital has created opportunities for residents in wards of Zabuthiri township near the gem hall to earn a little cash on the side.

Some homeowners in Thabyaygone and Dakkinathiri ward have rented their properties to gem traders for as much as K20-30 million (US$30,000 to $37,500) for the duration of the two-week emporium, while home owners further afield are also benfiting.

“Some hoteliers and residents rent their houses – there are even about 10 gem traders staying in Aung Mingalar ward in Pyinmana township. I know of 20 to 30 houses that are being rented during the gem emporium,” said one hotelier based in Nay Pyi Taw. He said that while the short term leases were not legal, ward authorities and government departments were tacitly allowing the practice because it provided a short-term solution to the shortage of hotel rooms.