Myanmar to ship first batch of rice to Japan in early May

Yangon - Myanmar will make its first shipment of rice to Japan in May after winning a tender to supply the country, state media reports said Tuesday.

Myanmar Agribusiness Public Company Limited will ship 5,000 tons at US$490 dollars per ton, The New Light of Myanmar said.

"Regional rice producers submitted tenders. Myanmar was also invited and emerges as a successful bidder. It is the first time we hit the Japanese market," a source at Myanmar rice industry association was quoted as saying.

Japan’s Mitsui Corporation is the buyer of the rice. In the first half of the 20th century, Myanmar was the world’s leading rice exporter, but lost its position to Thailand after production was nationalized and output declined following a coup in 1962.

Rice production increased 84 per cent from 1996 to 2001, President Thein Sein has said. Myanmar has set an export target of 1.5 million tonnes of rice inthe fiscal year to March 31. It is also the world’s leading exporter of pulses, mainly to India.

source: The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/Myanmar-to-ship-first-batch-of-rice-to-Japan-in-ea-30202266.html