First quarter maritime trade reaches $5.9 bln

12 January 2019
First quarter maritime trade reaches $5.9 bln
Trucks and forklifts move containers at Aisa World port in Yangon. Photo: Lynn Bo Bo/EPA

Myanmar’s maritime trade in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year has reached US$5.982 billion, an increase of $443 million compared with the corresponding period of the last FY, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

From 1 October to 28 December, maritime exports totalled $2.147 billion while imports stood at $3.835 billion. During the same period in the previous fiscal year, Myanmar’s trade via sea was pegged at $5.538 billion, with exports valued at $1.728 billion and imports registered at $3.810 billion, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar in a report 12 January.

Roughly 80 per cent of the country’s total trade is conducted through the maritime routes. According to data from the ministry, Myanmar’s maritime trade stood at $14.6 billion in the 2012-2013FY, $20.375 billion in the 2013-2014FY, $22.369 billion in the 2014-2015FY, $20.56 billion in the 2015-2016FY, $21.432 billion in the 2016-2017FY, and $25.019 billion in the 2017-2018FY. In the last six-month mini-budget period, the country shipped goods worth $14.231 billion via sea.

In the first quarter of this FY, Myanmar’s border exports reached $1.469 billion while imports stood at $665 million.

The trade authorities have been making efforts to boost external trade by promoting domestic production, according to the newspaper.