Burma : Chinese Traders Scooping Up Mandalay Gems, Precious Stones

Chinese Traders Scooping Up Mandalay Gems, Precious Stones
By MIN LWIN
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Chinese traders have managed to dominate the precious gems and jade market in Mandalay, paying jade prices as much as 50 percent under the stone’s value, say jade traders in Mandalay.

“The Chinese buyers totally control the gems market, especially the jade trading, where prices have fallen more than 50 percent,” a jade trader in Mandalay told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

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A worker grinds a piece of jade.
(Photo: Robin Thom)

The buying and selling of gems, especially jade, came to a near halt in the past few months, exacerbated by Chinese buyers exporting gems and stones illegally, according to Mandalay gem traders.

Myo Thu, who mostly deals in private jade sales and monitors the jade trade in Mandalay, estimated that jade sales have dropped more than 65 percent.

“The jade market is quiet, even through Chinese buyers come to the market. But they give no more than what traders paid for the stone,” he said.

The Mandalay gem market includes jade, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones that come from six areas of Burma: Mogok in Mandalay Division; Mongshu in Shan State; Khamti in Sagaing Division; and Moe-Nyin, Hpakant and Namya in Kachin State.

“Most of the jade, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones in the Mandalay gem market are purchased by Chinese buyers who are making gem products, ” a jade trader said.

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A jade market in Mandalay
(Photo: Robin Thom)

“Some precious stones are illegally bought by the Chinese dealers and sent directly to Hong Kong and Macau,” he said.

The Mandalay gem and precious stone industry employs an estimated 100,000 people around Mandalay.

A gems trader from Mae Sot, Thailand, said that the precious gems market at the Thai border was also quiet, and there were few buyers at the three-day Tak Province Chamber of Commerce-sponsored gem show which ended on Sunday.

“Gem buyers didn’t come, even visitors didn’t come,” he said.

In July, former US President George Bush signed into law the Burma Jade Act, restricting the import of precious Burmese gems and stones and extended existing import sanctions on Burma. Ten Burmese companies were added to the sanction’s list.

The US sanctions targeted two conglomerates, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEH), and the Myanmar Economic Corporation, established by the Burmese military, which is engaged in commercial enterprises and industries, including the gem, banking and construction industries.

UMEH subsidiary companies include Myanmar Ruby Enterprise and Myanmar Imperial Jade Company Ltd.

Also on the sanction list are No 1 Mining Enterprise, No 2 Mining Enterprise and No 3 Mining Enterprise, all owned by the Burmese Ministry of Mines.

irrawaddy.org

Not surprising. Laws and morality haven't stopped people from getting wealthy. The western coutnries did it and so have all the rest. If you want to make money go to Burma. If you want democracy in Burma kill off the military leaders and their families. The choice is yours. As you can see the way things are going everything is as it has always been. The Chinese are no different than everyone else in the world.

Naypyidaw gem fair nets $1.4bn
JOSEPH ALLCHIN
9 December 2010

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A man checks the quality of a jade stone found near a Hpakant mine (Reuters)

Record sales from a gem emporium held last month in Burma’s secretive capital suggests that the sanctioned industry is buoyant.

Around 90 percent of the produce on sale was bought, the Weekly Eleven journal said. According to Reuters, sales figures totalled $US1.44 billion. with more than 9000 lots of jade sold, as well as 273 lots of gems and 237 lots of pearls.

“These are the highest proceeds from a single sale of jade, gems and pearls since 1964,” an official told Reuters. Foreigners reportedly accounted for some 4000 of the 6,700 traders at the fair.

Burma is thought to produce around 90 percent of the world’s jade and gems, much of which goes to China and other regional nations, such as Singapore.

Most of the produce comes from Burma’s ethnic regions, particularly the Hpakant mines in Kachin state where the desperate conditions for workers are almost as notorious as the precious stones it holds.

The majority of the mines here are run by the military. Some were handed over by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) in a 1994 ceasefire deal aimed at granting the group autonomy.

The government then issued licences to their chosen companies, estimated to number around 30 in Kachin state.

The US and EU banned imports of several of the commodities in October 2007, but the effectiveness of the embargo is hard to gauge, with retailers in the US known to boast of Burmese origins of their wares.

The ruling junta usually avoids publicising sales figures from the annual emporium, but it will be buoyed by the recent fair and likely eager to increase both exports and foreign investment in the sector, although rising tensions in Kachin state, where few benefits of the mining are evident, may well cause fear in the market.

dvb.no

Sale prices for Burma’s iconic jade stone have jumped as much as ten times in the past year, according to gem merchants whom last week attended the 48th Gems Emporium in Naypyidaw.

Despite the price hike, as many as 17,000 sets of jade were bought, one gem business owner at the emporium told DVB.

“Jade prices are going very high – about 10 times more than last year’s price,” he said. “A piece of jade that was worth 200,000 kyat ($US230) to 300,000 kyat ($US340) about three years ago is now worth about 1.5 million kyat ($US1,705) to two million kyat ($US2,272).”

He added that the dramatic increase was largely down to growing demand from Chinese buyers, who are also hungrily snapping up Burmese pearl which was second bestselling gem at the emporium. Another gem businessman said that Chinese traders made up three-quarters of the buyers in Naypyidaw last week.

Gem fair sees jade prices soar 10-fold | Democratic Voice of Burma

Its hardly surprising that the Chinese buy almost all thats sold, they are almost the only ones allowed into the fairs !

Chinese companies ‘overexploiting’ jade mines
KO HTWE
7 March 2012

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Mining trucks seen leaving the Hpakant region of Kachin state
(Source: Kyauk Hpa Kyae)

Chinese-run enterprises in the Kachin state region of Hpakant have illegally increased operations at jade mines, according to locals who warn that environmental degradation from heavy mining has worsened.

A resident in Hpakant, famed for producing some of the world’s best-quality jade, said Chinese companies backed by local authorities are mining outside of their approved sites.

“They are excavating all over their sites in Hpakant and Dalon,” said the man. “They are trying to get as much as they can now because they think that Chinese companies will not receive as much favour when the new government comes to power.”

Companies are reportedly operating machinery larger than that which they are licensed to use, as well as using excessive amounts of fertiliser. The mines are said to be operational 24 hours a day, while local authorities and mining officials turn their heads and accept bribes.

The resident said that a mine worker had told him that companies were attempting to clean out the mine during the current government’s tenure, before stricter regulations are put in place regarding extraction.

Locals said the suspension of the Myitsone Dam project last year may have incited anxiety among Chinese companies in Hpakant, who fear they could lose future contracts and are now exploiting their current sites.

The Hpakant local said the region is environmentally fragile due to excessive mining and water shortages. The nearby Uru River’s levels are dangerously low, while locals’ complaints have failed to result in any new regulations or action.

“They think they can do anything here by paying money,” says the resident. “They tell us: ‘Move your village. We need to dump our fertiliser here. We will pay you 300,000 to 400,000 kyat [$US375 to $US500] and you go and stay elsewhere for a while’ and everyone has to nod or deal with their threats. People are just their puppets here.”

There are around 200 companies backed by the government or Chinese enterprises in Hpakant. Heavy mining there has already caused significant environmental problems, with tree clearances triggering landslides.

dvb.no

Burma Army orders removal of jade mining equipment from Hpakant area
01 June 2012

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Map and jade mines in Hpakant township, western Kachin state.

Last month senior Burma army commanders in Kachin state ordered that all jade mining equipment and machinery used in the Hpakant (also Hpakan) area be shipped back before the end of the month.

Since the Kachin conflict began last year the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has increased its presence in the Hpakant area home to the world's best source of jade. The end of the 17-year ceasefire between the KIA and the government has also seen the group's political-wing the KIO resume taxing the jade industry in Hpakant.

The orders directed at the jade mining firms come from Maj-Gen Zeyar Aung, head of the Northern Regional Military Command based in Myitkyina, according to company officials who spoke with the Kachin News Group on condition of anonymity.

The order directs that common jade mining equipment including backhoes, drilling machines and dump trucks be shipped back to government controlled towns in southwestern Kachin state or removed completely from the state altogether, according to a source in the jade mining industry.

The Commander’s order does not mean that all jade mining will end in the Hpakant area but a lack of equipment will likely slow mining operations significantly. The orders appear to be aimed at preventing the KIO from profiting from the lucrative jade trade. According to sources in the jade industry Maj-Gen Zeyar Aung has accused jade mining firms of strengthening the KIO by paying revolutionary taxes.

Officials with the KIA's Hpakant-based Battalion 6 estimate that there are currently about 200 major jade mining firms operating in the area. The KIA also says that there are at least 1,000 large scale pieces of mining equipment that would fall under the ban.

In late May some mining firms attempted to ship their equipment out of the area along the Hpakant to Mogaung route however much of this equipment was forced to return because KIA soldiers’ refused to allow the equipment to pass, a KIA Battalion 6 official told the Kachin News Group.

The Rangoon-based Voice Weekly Journal reported on Monday that Burma's Ministry of Mines, issued a notification calling for the suspension of jade mining in the Hpakanat area for safety reasons. The Ministry of Mines announcement appears to have been made after the army already announced the suspension.

Prior to the 1994 ceasefire agreement taxes generated from jade mining in the Hpakant area were one of the largest sources of revenue for the KIO. The jade industry remains one of the largest sources of revenue for Burma's central government.

kachinnews.com