THE state-run Myanma Gems Enterprise sold a record number of
jade lots at a 13-day sale in Yangon this month, an official from
the company said on July 17.
“We sold over 4300 jade lots out of 5880. This is the
biggest jade sale in terms of the number of lots sold and money
made in the history of these emporiums,” the official said
on condition of anonymity.
He said the July 4-16 emporium significantly outperformed a
similar sale in March when a little over 3000 jade lots were sold.
The enterprise has not publicly announced earnings from either
sale.
The official attributed the strong jade sales to a high turnout
of Chinese buyers. Among 4000 merchants, some 2200 were from China
and 120 from Thailand, which made up the second largest foreign
group, the official Mirror newspaper reported.
The sale was also open to local buyers.
However, while jade was in high demand, the enterprise barely
sold 10 percent of gem lots on offer and markedly fewer than were
sold in March, the official said.
“We could only sell 27 gem lots out of 246,” he
said, noting that 47 gem lots were sold during the March auction.
He said the fall in gem sales was directly related to the cooling
of the Thai economy.
“We attracted the same amount of Thai merchants as we
did at the previous March emporium but we couldn’t raise
gem sales because the gems market in Thailand isn’t active,”
he said.