Myanmar seeks to restore status among top rice exporters

Myanmar, the world’s top rice shipper before five decades of military dictatorship made it Southeast Asia’s poorest nation, plans to double exports over five years, threatening to aggravate a global glut.

Overseas sales may climb to as much as 3 million metric tons by 2017 from 1.5 million tons in the year ending March 2013 as yields and infrastructure improve, Ye Min Aung, secretary- general of the Myanmar Rice Federation, said on Oct. 25. The U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its export forecast for Myanmar by 25 percent to 750,000 tons for this year on Oct. 11.