A DEAL to import 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser from Israel has been “voided” because of a dispute over pricing, an executive from the Myanmar Paddy Producers Association (MPPA) said on May 28.
The MPPA’s U Saw Mya Din said that an executive committee member from the Union of Myanmar Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) was now in Singapore seeking alter-native channels to import fertiliser, which is urgently needed for Myanmar’s agricultural sector.
“The agreement we reached in January [2009] with an Israeli company to import 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser has been voided,” U Saw Mya Din confirmed.
In early January, a Myanmar business deleg-ation led by U Sein Win Hlaing visited Israel for negotiations with Haifa-based company Tamco-A Tech Ltd and successfully reached an agreement to import 100,000 tonnes of Ukrainian fertiliser at US$285 a tonne.
Under the terms of the agreement, Myanmar was to import 12,500 tonnes per month at the end of May.
The managing director of Local Global Sea Trader, the company coordinating the agreement on the Myanmar side, said the Isreali company had increased the price by $25 a tonne above that in the agreement.
“Both side agreed price per tonne of fertiliser was US$285. But later on, the Israeli company told us that they could only sell at $310 per tonne. So, the agreement was not come into effect,” managing director U Ko Ko Latt said.
“We can buy the fertiliser at $270 per tonne when we go directly to the Ukrainian factories and when we buy through an agent, we have to pay about $15 extra.”
But he said he was still hopeful of salvaging the deal with Tamco-A Tech.
“Now, we are re-negotiating again with Tamco-A Tech Ltd. I hope the negotiations are successful and the old agreement comes into effect,” he added.
Myanmar has more than 44.053 million acre of arable land, which requires about 5 million tonnes of fertiliser each year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation.
Most of this has to be imported because local production capacity is only 110,000 tonnes annually, providing just 2.2 percent of overall needs.
U Saw Mya Din said there was a critical need for fertiliser in the Myanmar agriculture sector and currently farmers only had access to 25pc of the required amount.
