Mine yields $460,000 in copper per day
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The Sabei and Kyaysin mountain copper mining project, carried out by Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited, is extracting up to eight million tons of copper soil per month, according to a mine official.
Out of that, some 1.5 million tonnes of raw metals is extracted, or more than US$460,000 (Bt14.8 million) at today’s copper prices, for about 70 tonnes of copper gained every day.
“From Sabei and Kyaysin mountains is extracted eight million tonnes of soil, which contains 1.5 million [tonnes of] raw metals. Out of this, 70 tonnes of pure copper is produced daily, and 2,100 tonnes for a month,” said Thein Htun, an official at the Sabei and Kyaysin Mountains copper extraction site.
The price of copper per tonne is about $6,647, according to the London Metric Exchange price, and UMEHL and Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited is extracting more than $465,000 in copper every day.
Commodity prices keep rising after festival
The arrival of the Thingyan festival has fuelled a commodity price jump on the heels of sharp increases in reaction to electricity rate hikes and salary increases for civil servants.
Commodity prices usually increase as the Myanmar New Year approaches, but they historically tend to drop after that period is over. However, the prices still have not pulled back, and in fact, some of them continue to rise to alarming levels.
Prices for meat and fish have jumped 25 per cent, and in some cases even 100 per cent.
Since the Thingyan festival approached, the price of onions, garlic, ginger and potatoes, which are basic food staples, have started increasing, and they continue to increase even after the Thingyan festival ended.
