A worker prepares bags of onions for export at the Shwe Padethar company’s warehouse at Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone (4) on July 19. Pic: Lwin Mg Mg

ONION exports resumed early this month after the Myanmar Onion & Garlic Producers and Exporters Association (MOPEA) lifted a ban in place since September 2006, saying good harvests meant there were more than enough onions for domestic consumption.

“Up to mid-July, we’ve exported 500 tonnes of summer onions to Malaysia at a price of US$300 per tonne,” MOPEA chairman U Pyone said.

He predicted exports to Malaysia would reach 1000 tonnes by the end of the month.

Onions are also being sold to buyers in Thailand, China and Indonesia, he added.

U Pyone said weather this year had been good in key onion-growing regions like Mandalay, Magwe and Pokakkau, and summer onion harvests were about 30 percent above previous years’.

Crops in central Myanmar produced about 250 million viss (156,250 tonnes) of onions, while domestic demand for about 100 million viss (62,500 tonnes) meant the surplus could be exported, U Pyone said.