Maungdaw: Burmese shrimp exports to Bangladesh have ground to a halt as traders in the neighbouring country are no longer buying Burmese shrimp, said a wealthy shrimp trader in Maungdaw.

"We are unable to export shrimp products to Bangladesh right now because businessmen in Bangladesh are not buying shrimps from Burma," he said.

Many shrimp businessmen in Arakan State are watching their business suffer because they are unable to export their products to Bangladesh.

The shrimp trader said, "We have no international market except Bangladesh to export shrimp from Arakan, but now Bangladesh has stopped buying shrimps from Burma. It is very difficult to continue with our business."

In the past, shrimp businessmen in Arakan were able to export shrimp to Singapore, Thailand, and Bangladesh, but Singapore and Thailand had to halt imports after additional US sanctions were imposed on Burma.

However, the poor quality of shrimp coming from Burma may also have influenced Singapore and Thailand's decision to halt imports.

According to a local source, Bangladesh businessmen stopped buying shrimps from Burma in November 2008 due to problems among shrimp traders in Bangladesh.

U Maung Thein from the border area said some local Bangladesh shrimp farmers complained that they were losing profits to the Burmese imports.

While the average Burmese trader has been unable to export shrimps to Bangladesh, pro-junta businessmen are reporting a nearly 30 per cent surge in trade between Burma and Bangladesh compared to this time last year, amounting to US $ 8.578 million for the first three quarters of the 2008-2009 fiscal year.