Prices pushed over by issue, tariffs
PUBLISHED: 17 May 2024 at 05: 26
Producers of Thai betel nuts are dealing with price obstacles from India as well as the effects of the military conflict between the Myanmar government and rebel forces.
According to a betel nuts farmer in Phatthalung’s Tamot area, dried betel nuts are being sold to local villagers for 8, 10 or 12 ringgit per kilogram during the recent harvest time, based on the moisture content. A pricey with a small water content.
Betel beans from Phatthalung’s Kong Ra region are exported for 17 baht/kg while those from Songkhla grab a value of 15 baht/kg.
” In past decades, the costs were as high as 50- 60 baht”, a farmer said. Betel beans, also known as areca beans, are chewed for their energizing results.
Betel nuts chewing is popular in some Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. Additionally, the nuts fall under the category of cancer that can lead to teeth cancers.
According to a cause, the fighting in Myanmar and India’s high tariffs are the two main driving forces behind the price decline. According to the source, the armed conflict in Myanmar has hampered export that, making traders have to pay large fees in “facilitation fees” to cross the border to find their goods, the source said.
” As a result, investors have to force producers to sell their products at lower rates to offset the cost bills”, the source said.
In response to the impact of international imports, India, a big importer of cardamom nuts, has also tightened betel nut imports to protect local industries.
Exports of natural and powdered betel nuts were fair 2.55 billion ringgit in 2013, according to Dares Kittiyopas, leader of the Thai Society of Agricultural Engineering. More than half the products, or 54.6 %, were exported to Myanmar, followed by Vietnam ( 18.6 % ), Bangladesh ( 11.9 % ) and India ( 7.3 % ), she said.
Dried betel beans are exported to Myanmar, and the majority of them are re-exported to India and Bangladesh, she said. India is the world’s largest producer and buyer of areca bonkers, she said. Currently, the tariff on the import of areca nuts to India is US$ 8, 140 ( 294, 000 baht ) per tonne, and the basic customs duty is 100 % ad- valorem.
The import of areca nuts is prohibited if the cost, insurance and freight ( CIF ) value is below 351 rupees ( 153 baht ) per kilogramme, except when imported by 100 % export- oriented units and units in the special economic zone, subject to the condition that no domestic tariff area (DTA ) sales are allowed.
Betel nuts traders are being forced to pay higher customs duties, according to Ms. Dares, as a result of the fighting in Myanmar. Since June next month, Bangladesh and India have even banned the transfer of areca nuts from Myanmar, which affects Thai exports, which are typically transported through those nations, she said.
She recommended that the federal talk with India to end the interventionist measures imposed by the Asean-India Free Trade Agreement, the Thai-India Free Trade Agreement, and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, to which Thailand and India are parties.
The government may even acquire exporting betel nuts to new areas such as the UK and the UAE where demand is higher among refugees from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Asia and Africa, she said.