A worker at the Pwint Thit Sa fertiliser warehouse at Bayintnaung stacks bags. Pic: Aung Tun Win

SALES of fertiliser have been up in the past few weeks, but the increase in sales is still lower than it was this time last year.

At that time, sales increased sharply, said wholesale market sources at the Bayintnaung Wholesale Commodities Trading Centre.

“Sales at my shop have increased over last month, but demand is still lower than last year although this is the time when farmers are preparing for the rainy crop-growing season,” said U Aung Myint, a fertiliser wholesaler at Bayintnaung.

He also said demand from his regular customers was particularly lower than in previous years, which caused a decrease in sales.

“I’ve been selling about 300 bags of fertiliser a day in June, which is a 50 percent decrease from sales compared to the same time last year,” U Aung Myint said.

On June 25 a 50-kilogram (about 110 pounds) bag of fertiliser fetched K29,500, up from K25,500 in May.

“Normally, sales are always up at this time of year, but this year is different. Compared with last month, sales have barely risen because of the price increase,” said U Hla Toe, a dealer at the centre.

“In June last year I sold about 800 bags of fertiliser daily but the daily sale during this month is between 300 and 350 bags,” he said. “Although the demand is low at present, the price has increased successively.”

Dealers in the market said three years ago fertilisers sold in Yangon were mainly imported from Bangladesh, while people in upper Myanmar used fertilisers imported from China.

But at present fertilisers from China occupy about 90 percent of the Yangon market and only small quantities were imported from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

“Because fertilisers from China are cheaper and also reliable, more people use them than in previous years and we have concentrated on importing Chinese fertilisers,” said a fertiliser importer, who requested not to be named.
Demand for bio-fertilisers is also low. “The demand at present is not active but prices have increased over last month,” said Daw Cho Cho Nwe, the owner of the Pwint Thit Sa warehouse at the centre.

She said some farmers had become aware of the benefits of using bio-fertiliser in sustainable farming, but chemical fertiliser is more common in the country.

“I hope there will be healthier demand in the coming weeks,” she said.
Domestically made bio-fertiliser sells for K3200 a bag while imported bio-fertiliser is K27,000 a bag.

In Myanmar, the May through August period is normally the peak time for the fertiliser market and most wholesalers at Bayintnaung hope fertiliser sales will increase in the near future as heavier rains come.