Open Data Myanmar Jade-A Data Driven Journey Through Myanmar's Jade industry

5/16/2018 Open Data: Myanmar Jade
https://openjadedata.org/about.html 1/2
Open Data: Myanmar Jade sheds light on Myanmar's jade industry using the latest data released
through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
The project is a tool to strengthen public understanding of the sector and to support movement
toward greater transparency.
Open Data: Myanmar Jade is supported by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and
the School of Data. For more information on NRGI's work in Myanmar and around the world, visit
resourcegovernance.org. More information on the School of Data is available at schoolofdata.org.
This site is a prototype. Site links and content are subject to change. The accuracy and/or
completeness of data provided is not guaranteed. Users should always check against original
sources before making decisions based upon the data presented here.
All content (except for photographs and organizational logos) presented on this website is openly
licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Source code on Github: website, mining licenses explorer, revenue flows explorer.
Acknowledgements
This website was made possible through support from the Natural Resource Governance Institute
(NRGI) and the School of Data.
Photos by Minzayar Oo, Tin Htet Paing, and Andrew Bauer.

About


https://openjadedata.org/about_mm.html 1/2
ပွင့်လင်းအချက်အလက် - ြမန်မာ့ေကျာက်စိမ်းသည် တွင်းထွက်သယံဇာတ အရင်းအြမစ်တူးေဖာ်ေရးလုပ်ငန်း
များ ပွင့်လင်း ြမင်သာမေဖာ်ေဆာင်ေရး (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative or EITI) မှ ေနာက်ဆုံး
ထုတ်ြပန်ထားေသာ အချက်အလက်များကို အသုံးြပပီး ြမန်မာ့ေကျာက်စိမ်းကအား မီးေမှာင်းထိုးတင်ြပ
ထားပါသည်။
ဤဝက်ဆိုဒ်သည် ြပည်သူများမှ ေကျာက်စိမ်းကအား ပိုမိုနားလည်သိရှိလာေစရန်ှင့် ပွင့်လင်းြမင်သာမေဖာ်
ေဆာင်ေရး လပ်ရှားမကို အေထာက်အကူြဖစ်ေစရန် ရည်ရွယ်ပါသည်။
ပွင့်လင်းအချက်အလက် - ြမန်မာ့ေကျာက်စိမ်းကို Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) ှင့် the
School of Data မှ ပူးေပါင်းေဆာင်ရွက်ပါသည်။ ြမန်မာိုင်ငံှင့် အြခားကမာအရပ်ရပ်တွင် ေဆာင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိ
ေသာ NRGI ၏ လုပ်ငန်းများအား အေသးစိတ် သိရှိလိုလျင် resourcegovernance.orgတွင် ဝင်ေရာက်ေလ့လာ
ိုင်ပါသည်။ The School of Data ှင့် စပ်လျဉ်းသည့် အေသးစိတ်အချက်အလက်များကိုလည်း
schoolofdata.orgတွင် ဝင်ေရာက်ေလ့လာိုင်ပါသည်။
ဤဝက်ဆိုဒ်မှာ စမ်းသပ်ေနဆဲ ြဖစ်ပါသည်။ ထိုေကာင့် ဝက်ဆိုဒ်လိပ်စာ၊ ေဆာင်းပါးများှင့် ပုံများတွင်
ေြပာင်းလဲမများ ရှိိုင်ပါသည်။ ပါဝင်သည့် အချက်အလက်များ အလုံးစုံ တိကျြပည့်စုံမည်ဟု မဆိုိုင်ေသးပါ။
ယခုတင်ြပထားသည့် အချက်အလက်များကို အသုံးြပမည်ဆိုပါက မူရင်းအချက်အလက် ရင်းြမစ်ှင့်
တိုက်ဆိုင်၍ အမဲြပန်လည်စစ်ေဆးသင့်ပါသည်။
ဓါတ်ပုံများှင့် အဖွဲအစည်းများ၏ logo များမှအပ ယခုဝက်ဆိုဒ်တွင် ပါဝင်သည့် အချက်အလက်များကို
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License အရ မှတ်ပုံတင်ထားပါသည်။.
Source code on Github: website, mining licenses explorer, revenue flows explorer.
အသိအမှတ်ြပ ေကျးဇူးတင်လ
ဤဝက်ဆိုဒ်ကို Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) ှင့် School of Dataတို၏ ကူညီပံ့ပိုးေပးမြဖင့်
ေရးဆွဲပါသည်။
ဓါတ်ပုံများကို မင်းေဇယျာဦး၊ တင်ထက်ပိုင်ှင့် Andrew Bauer တိုမှ ိုက်ကူးထားပါသည်။
ေဆာင်းပါးများ ပုံများ ကိန်းဂဏန်းဖိုင်များ အေကာင်းအရာ English
ဝက်ဆိုဒ် အေကာင်းအရာ


http://www.openjadedata.org/ 1/3
The world's largest producer
of jade is Myanmar
Jade can be worth up to millions of dollars per kilogram. The green-
hued gemstone fuels an industry that is estimated to be worth billions.
The main market for jade is in China, where it has traditionally been
highly valued and associated with royalty. Myanmar's Kachin State,
where the world's richest jade mines are located, is on China's
southern border.
Open Data: Myanmar Jade
A Data Driven Journey Through Myanmar's Jade Industry
ြမန်မာ
EXPLORE

Explore the jade industry t
Data Stories, Data Tools a
Datasets
This project sheds light on an industry that has histo
shrouded in secrecy. The project uses the latest dat
through transparency initiatives.
Data Stories explore the impact of the jade industry
through data visualizations, analyses, and interview
Data Tools make large datasets accessible with exp
and interactive visualizations.
Datasets let researchers and advanced data users d
machine-readable data that is ready to use.
Data Stories Data Tools Datasets About ြမန်မာ
Data Stories
 



Even with New Data, Valuing
Myanmar's Jade Industry
Remains a Challenge
READ
What are the Environmental
Impacts of Jade Mining?
COMING SOON
How are Local
Mining Region
COMING
© Natural Resource Governance Institute

http://www.openjadedata.org/index_mm.html 1/4
ြမန်မာိုင်ငံသည် ကမာေပတွင် ေကျာက်စိမ်း
အများဆုံးထုတ်လုပ်ေသာိုင်ငံြဖစ်သည်
ေကျာက်စိမ်း တစ်ကီလိုဂရမ်သည် အေမရိကန်ေဒလာ သန်းေပါင်းများစွာ
အဖိုးတန်ိုင်ပီး ေကျာက်စိမ်းှင့် ေကျာက်စိမ်းှင့် သက်ဆိုင်ေသာ လုပ်ငန်းများ
ကလည်း အေမရိကန်ေဒလာ ဘီလီယံှင့်ချီ၍ တန်သည်ဟု ခန်မှန်းရသည်။
ေကျာက်စိမ်းကို ဝယ်ယူသည့် အဓိကေဈးကွက်မှာ တုတ်ိုင်ငံြဖစ်သည်။
တုတ်ိုင်ငံတွင် ေရှးအစဉ်အဆက် ယဉ်ေကျးမဓေလ့အရ ေကျာက်စိမ်းအား
ပွင့်လင်းအချက်အလက် - ြမန်မာ့
ေကျာက်စိမ်း
ြမန်မာ့ေကျာက်စိမ်းကအား အချက်အလက်များအေပအေြခြပ၍ ေလ့လာြခင်း
English
ေလ့လာမည်

တန်ဖိုးထားသလို ေတာ်ဝန်နန်းဆန်မှင့် တွဲယှဉ်ပီးလည်း မှတ်ယူကသည်။ က
မာ့အကယ်ဝဆုံး ေကျာက်စိမ်းတွင်းကီးများတည်ရှိေသာ ြမန်မာိုင်ငံမှ
ကချင်ြပည်နယ်သည် တုတ်ိုင်ငံ ေတာင်ပိုင်းှင့် နယ်နိမိတ်ချင်း ဆက်စပ်
လျက်ရှိေနသည်။
ကိန်းဂဏန်းအေြခြပ
ေဆာင်းပါးများ၊ ပုံများ ှင့် ကိန်းဂဏန်
ေကျာက်စိမ်းကကို ေလ့လာြခင်း
ဤဝက်ဆိုဒ်သည် နားလည်ရခက်ခဲသည့် ေကျာက်စိမ်းက
ြပသရန် ရည်ရွယ်ပါသည်။ ဤတင်ြပချက်တွင် ပွင့်လင်းြမင
ေရးလုပ်ငန်းများမှ ေနာက်ဆုံးရရှိထားေသာ အချက်အလက
ထားပါသည်။
ကိန်းဂဏန်းအေြခြပ ေဆာင်းပါးများ တွင် ေကျာက်စိမ်းက
အေပ သက်ေရာက်မကို အချက်အလက် ပုံေဖာ်မများ၊ သုံး
ေမးြမန်းမများ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။
ကိန်းဂဏန်းအေြခြပ ပုံများ အတွက် အသုံးြပသူများမှ အြ
ေရွးချယ်ိုင်မည့် ပုံေဖာ်မများ (explorable dashboards an
visualizations)ကို အသုံးြပထားပီး များြပားလှေသာ ကိန်း
အချက်အလက်များအား အလွယ်တကူ ေလ့လာိုင်ေစရန်
ကိန်းဂဏန်းဖိုင်များ တွင် သုေတသနပညာရှင်များှင့် အချ
အသုံးြပပီး ထပ်ဆင့်ေလ့လာလိုသူများ အတွက် ကွန်ြပတ
 


ေလ့လာိုင်မည့်၊ အသုံးြပရန်အသင့်ြဖစ်ေနေသာ အချက်အ
ေပးထားပါသည်။
အချက်အလက် အသစ်များ ထွက်
ေပလာသည့်တိုင် တန်ဖိုးခန်မှန်း
ရန် ခက်ခဲေနဆဲ ြမန်မာ့
ေကျာက်စိမ်းက
ဖတ်မည်
ေကျာက်စိမ်းတူးေဖာ်မ၏
ေနာက်ဆက်တွဲ သဘာဝ
ပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ထိခိုက်မများ
မကာမီလာမည်
ေကျာက်စိမ်းနယ
များအေပ သက်
မကာမီလ
ေဆာင်းပါးများ ပုံများ ကိန်းဂဏန်းဖိုင်များ အေကာင်းအရာ English
ကိန်းဂဏန်းအေြခြပ ေဆာင်းပါးများ


5/16/2018 Mining License Explorer Tool
https://openjadedata.org/tools/licenses-explorer/ 1/4
Ownership
Private
Commodity
Gem
Jade
State/Region
0 5000 10000 15000
Kachin State
Mandalay Region
Shan State
(//openjadedata.org/index.html) Data Stories (//openjadedata.org/index.html#three) Data Tools
(//openjadedata.org/tools.html) Datasets (//openjadedata.org/datasets.html) About
(//openjadedata.org/about.html) ြမန်မာ (index_mm.html)
Mining License Explorer
This tool allows you to explore all licenses awarded to jade and gemstone mining companies in Myanmar. Results can be
filtered by location, license-holder company and date of award and expiry. This tool is best viewed on a laptop or desktop
computer.
Select data source: 2015-16 EITI Report
Total number of licenses in selected dataset: 17,728
All 17,728 licenses selected. Please click on the graphs below to apply filters.

License Holder
Sort: alphabetically by number of licenses
Detailed Location

Date of Award
Click and drag on the chart to filter licenses by date of award or select from the date pickers below.
MYANMAR IMPERIAL JADE
ZABU THIYI
YADANAR SINTHIYI GEMS
NATURAL POWER
MYANMAR RUBY INTERPRISE
TAUNG NI TAUNG
MIN HTET OO
GREAD NINE
YADANAR THAYAPHU
NORTHING STAR
SHWE MYINT AUNG
AUNG HLAING KYAYWA
MYANMAR SAN TAW WIN
Namachi Hmaw Thit Phawhtoke
Kaung yo Phawhtoke
Sha Yaung Kha
Whay Khar
Taw Mhaw
Khon Saing Phawhtoke
Ma Kyan Kha Phaw Htot
Ma Kar Pin
Namachi Phawhtoke
Nant Mhaw
Lwai Saung htauk
Sport
Walar Phawhtoke
Filter by Date
Aggregate by: date week month

From: to:
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Year
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1,000
Numberoflicenses
Date of Expiry
Click and drag on the chart to filter licenses by date of expiry or select from the date pickers below.
From: to:
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Year
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
1,800
2,000
2,200
2,400
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Numberoflicenses
View Filtered Data
Search:Show 10 entriesDownload filtered data as CSV
License owner
name
Award
date
Expiry
date
Commodity
License
type
License
area
(acres)
State/Region
License
location
"HTOO"
GEMS
26 Jun
2009
25 Sep
2019
Jade
Joint
Venture
40 Kachin State Mawsisar 11
1 - 1 - 1
24 Jun
2009
23 Sep
2019
Jade
Joint
Venture
108 Kachin State Warjie 7
1 1 1
03 Oct
2015
02 Oct
2018
Jade Private 1 Kachin State
Maw La
Kin
105
1 1 1
14 Sep
2015
13 Sep
2018
Kar Li
Chaung
40
1 1 1
15 Aug
2015
14 Aug
2018
Maw La
Kin
106
1 1 1
15 Aug
2015
14 Aug
2018
Maw La
Kin
108
15 Aug 14 Aug Maw

Where is the data from?
The data used for this tool comes from EITI reports covering three periods: 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. The
disaggregated license data for comes from Annex 10 and 11 of those years' reports. Please note that the disaggregated licenses
data were only provided for the companies included in the reconciliation scope for 2013-14. For 2014-2015 and 2015-2016,
however, data was released for all active licenses.
Showing 1 to 10 of 17,728 entries Previous 1 2 3 4 5 … 1773 Next
1 1 1
15 Aug
2015
14 Aug
2018
Maw
Maung
226
1 1 1
15 Aug
2015
14 Aug
2018
Maw La
Kin
109

Ownership
Private
Commodity
Gem
Jade
State/Region
0 5000 10000 15000 2000
Kachin State
Mandalay Region
Shan State
computer.

License Holder
Detailed Location

Date of Award
MYANMAR IMPERIAL JADE
MYANMAR RUBY INTERPRISE
ZABU THIYI
MYANMAR ECONOMIC COORPORATION
YADANAR SINTHIYI GEMS
NATURAL POWER
KYAW NAING & BROTHERS GEMS
JADE TREASURE
TAUNG NI TAUNG
ZWE HTET KWIN
JADE PALACE
MIN HTET OO
GREAD NINE
Namachi Hmaw Thit Phawhtoke
Kaung yo Phawhtoke
Ma Kyan Kha Phaw Htot
Sha Yaung Kha
Taw Mhaw
Namachi Phawhtoke
Whay Khar
Ma Kar Pin
Lwai Saung htauk
Walar Phawhtoke
Khon Saing Phawhtoke
Nant Mhaw
Mhaw Si Sar
Filter by Date

From: to:
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 201
Year
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
Numberoflicenses
Date of Expiry
From: to:
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 202
Year
0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
Numberoflicenses
View Filtered Data
License owner
name
Award
date
Expiry
date
Commodity
License
type
License
area
(acres)
State/Region
License
location
1 - 1 - 1
24 Jun
2009
23 Sep
2019
Jade
Joint
Venture
108 Kachin State Warjie 7
"HTOO"
GEMS
26 Jun
2009
25 Sep
2019
Jade
Joint
Venture
40 Kachin State Mawsisar 11
1 1 1
03 Oct
2012
02 Oct
2015
Maw La
Kin
105
1 1 1
14 Sep
2012
13 Sep
2012
Kar Li
Chaung
40
1 1 1
15 Aug
2012
14 Aug
2015
Maw La
Kin
110
1 1 1
15 Aug
2012
14 Aug
2015
Maw La
Kin
109
15 Aug 14 Aug Maw La

1 1 1
15 Aug
2012
14 Aug
2015
Maw La
Kin
106
1 1 1
15 Aug
2012
14 Aug
2015
Maw
Maung
226

Ownership
Joint Venture
Private
Commodity
Gems
Jade
State/Region
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Kachin State
Mandalay Region
Sagaing Region
Shan State
computer.

License Holder
Detailed Location

Date of Award
MYANMAR IMPERIAL JADE (GEMS & JEWELLERY) COMPANY LIMITED
WINN LEI YADANAR COMPANY LIMITED
JADE MOUNTAIN COMPANY LIMITED
WAI AUNG GABAR GEMS COMPANY LIMITED
KYAUK SEINN NAGAR (GEMS) COMPANY LIMITED
YANDANAR YAUNG CHI GEMS COMPANY LIMITED
AYEYAR YADANAR GEMS & JEWELLERY COMPANY LIMITED
WAI FAMILY GEMS COMPANY LIMITED
AUNG HEIN MIN GEMS COMPANY LIMITED
LINN LETT WIN YADANAR GEMS COMPANY LIMITED
SHWE YWET HLWAR GEMS CO.,.LTD.
TREASURE WHITE LOTUS GEMS COMPANY LIMITED
MYAT YAMON GEMS CO.,LTD
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https://openjadedata.org/datasets.html 1/4
The following datasets are used on this website. For each dataset, the original version from the
publisher is included. For those datasets that required cleaning to ensure consistency and correct
formatting, the cleaned version and the automated script that can be used to derive the cleaned
dataset from the original dataset are also included. Cleaning scripts are available as OpenRefine
projects or Jupyter Notebooks (written in Python).

DOWNLOAD.xlsx
2013-2014 EITI Report Summary Sheet
This includes revenue data from companies mining jade and gemstones, disaggregated by
payment types and company, for fiscal year 2013-2014.
Original dataset

DOWNLOAD.xlsx
DOWNLOADPREVIEW.csv
DOWNLOAD.tar.gz
2013-2014 EITI Report Jade and Gemstone Mining Licenses
This is a list of active mining licenses issued to companies mining jade and gemstones as of fiscal
year 2013-2014.
Original dataset
Cleaned dataset
OpenRefine Script for cleaning data
Datasets







DOWNLOAD.xlsx
This includes revenue data from companies mining jade and gemstones, disaggregated by
Original dataset

DOWNLOAD.xlsx
DOWNLOADPREVIEW.csv
DOWNLOAD.tar.gz
year 2014-2015.
Original dataset
Cleaned dataset

DOWNLOAD.xlsx
DOWNLOADPREVIEW.csv
DOWNLOAD.ipynb
2014-2015 EITI Report Jade and Gemstone Reconciliation Sheets
This is a list of reconciled revenues from companies mining jade and gemstones in fiscal year
2014-2015.
Original dataset
Cleaned dataset
Python Jupyter Notebook for cleaning data









DOWNLOAD.xlsx
This is revenues payments data from companies mining jade and gemstones, disaggregated by
Original dataset

DOWNLOAD.xlsx
DOWNLOADPREVIEW.csv
DOWNLOAD.tar.gz
year 2015-2016.
Original dataset
Cleaned dataset

DOWNLOAD.xlsx
DOWNLOADPREVIEW.csv
DOWNLOAD.ipynb
2015-2016 EITI Report Jade and Gemstone Reconciliation Sheets
This is a list of reconciled revenues from companies mining jade and gemstones in fiscal year
2015-2016.
Original dataset
Cleaned dataset
Python Jupyter Notebook for cleaning data








http://www.openjadedata.org/Stories/how_much_jade_worth.html 1/15

It is impossible to overstate the importance of Myanmar's jade industry to the country. But it is almost as
di icult to pin down the sector's value with any degree of precision.
A 2015 report, from Global Witness estimated the total value of the jade industry in 2014 to between USD 5
billion and USD 31 billion. The higher estimate was roughly equal to 50 percent of the country's GDP at the
time.
These figures are at odds with Myanmar's first EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) report, also
released in 2015. It stated USD 1.5 billion of jade was sold at o icial emporiums in 2014.
There have also been other attempts to estimate the total value of Myanmar's jade industry. In 2013, a
collaborative research project between Harvard University's Ash Center and Myanmar social enterprise
Data Stories Data Tools Datasets About ြမန်မာ
Even with New Data,
Valuing Myanmar's Jade Industry Remains a Challenge


Proximity Designs estimated the value to be USD 8 billion a year. Another study by the same two
organizations in 2016 estimated the value to be USD 15 billion.
These figures underscore the opacity of the total value of Myanmar's jade industry. Clear and definitive sector
data is very hard to find. Most estimates rely on a lot of assumptions.
Much of the discrepancy stems from the fact that a significant amount of mined jade is never reported to the
government. Estimating prices and quantities produced when significant amounts of jade leave the country
illicitly is di icult.
This analysis aims to visually demonstrate how such estimates are calculated. We replicate the method used
by Global Witness to estimate the total value of jade produced in 2014, proceeding step by step in order to
understand what the data tells us and what is unclear. There is two extra years' worth of additional data, as
well as more detailed information made available by the Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE).
Before we begin, let's break down what information we need in order to calculate the value of jade. We start
with this very simple formula:
If we can find out how much jade was produced, and what price it was sold at, we can calculate its value. But
it gets complicated. All jade is not created equal. There are three jade types. Some are much more valuable
than others.
As for the quantity produced, we only have data on the total amount of jade produced. There is no
breakdown of how much is produced by type. Moreover, we only know the prices of stones sold at o icial
government gems and jade emporiums. These only account for a small fraction of the total jade produced
each year.

In addition to all these uncertainties, the quantities, prices and value of the jade sector also fluctuate
significantly from year to year.
Fluctuations: 2014 was a special year
We began by looking at Global Witness' highest estimate: USD 31 billion of total jade produced in 2014. At first
glance, this estimate might seem comparable to the sector's value in other years too. This isn't necessarily the
case.
First, let's look at how the total quantity of jade produced varies from year to year.
Myanmar's Central Statistical O ice compiles the data on total volume (the same data that Global Witness
used in their calculations). We can see that 2014 marks the lowest quantity produced in about a decade.

Source: Myanmar Statistical Information Service • Get the data • Created with Datawrapper
Jade production per year
Units: million KG
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Fiscal
Year
Calendar
Year
Myanmar's scal year runs from April to March. Global Witness' calculations use scal year values.
Next, let's look at how the prices fluctuate. We don't have the average prices for the sector as a whole, but we
do have the average price of uncut/unprocessed jade exported to China from U.N. trade statistics. Prices of
jade exports climbed steeply in 2013 and 2014, but came crashing down in 2015.
Source: UN COMTRADE • Created with Datawrapper
Average price of uncut jade exports to China
Units: US$ per KG
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Prices peaked in 2014 before crashing in 2015
Calculated using total value and quantity of imports to China from Myanmar for commodity HS code 710310
Finally, let's look at the total value of exports to China. Since we cannot directly see the total value of the
whole sector, the next best thing is to see how much of it is o icially exported to the largest market. In 2014,
the total value of jade exports to China increased tenfold from the previous year, and quickly decreased by a
similar amount in the year a er.

Source: UN COMTRADE • Created with Datawrapper
Value of jade exports to China
Units: US$ million
5,000
10,000
77777777777777777
2004
44444444444444444
2005
1010101010101010101010101010101010
2006
1212121212121212121212121212121212
2007
1919191919191919191919191919191919
2008
7171717171717171717171717171717171
2009
142142142142142142142142142142142142142142142142142
2010
771771771771771771771771771771771771771771771771771
2011
290290290290290290290290290290290290290290290290290
2012
1,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,1551,155
2013
12,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,28012,280
2014
1,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,9271,927
2015
121121121121121121121121121121121121121121121121121
2016
Calculated using total value of imports to China from Myanmar for commodity HS codes 710310, 710399, and 711620. Global Witness'
calculations also used these 3 HS codes.
This goes to show that 2014 is a pretty atypical year for the jade sector. Therefore, whatever methods we use
to estimate the value of jade produced in that year, we can safely assume that the total value for other years
will be significantly lower. With that in mind, we go back to our calculations of the value of the jade sector in
2014.
But before we dive into the numbers, we need context: what are the types of jade and how is jade o icially
sold?
What are the types of jade?
Commodities such as gold or oil have prices per unit that are more or less standardized. Each piece of jade,
on the other hand, is unique, and putting a price on it is a very complicated and subjective process.
Jade mined in Myanmar is composed of the mineral jadeite. It can be found in stones that vary in size, from
pebble-small to boulders taller than a person. Every stone has distinct hues and patterns. In addition, it is
very hard to tell the exact quality of an uncut stone – its internal structure is also a determinant to its quality.
There are three broad categories that jade produced in Myanmar is divided into:
Imperial jade is the most valuable and is made into high-end jewelry.
Commercial jade is usually made into carvings and bangles and is of medium quality.
Utility jade is the lowest grade, and is used for tilings and carvings, as well as cheap jewelry.
Note these three categories are not comprehensive; there are many subcategories. For instance, utility jade is
classified into A, B, C and D grades. There is a great deal of variation in quality within imperial jade and
commercial as well.

Ideally, we want to determine out of the total quantity of jade produced, what percentage of that figure is
imperial, commercial and utility jade.
Harvard University's Ash Center and Proximity Designs (henceforth abbreviated as 'Harvard/Proximity')
conducted an assessment of the Myanmar jade industry in 2013. Based on interviews with industry leaders,
they estimated that the percentage composition of the various types of jade is as follows:
In 2016, the same research group published another study based on industry interviews, where imperial jade
accounted for merely 0.01 percent of production.
The first of these percentage estimates were used in Global Witness' estimates, as Harvard/Proximity's 2016
study had not come out yet. In conjunction with this estimate, Global Witness derived another set of
percentages from the jade sold at the o icial emporiums. We will now look at how percentages were derived
from emporium data, and what actually goes on at an emporium.
How is jade o icially sold?
Every year, one or two large gems emporiums are held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital. They are organized
by MGE, a state-owned enterprise responsible for regulating the jade and gemstones sector and production of

jade and gemstones through joint venture agreements with private companies.
Foreigners are prohibited by law from operating in the sector. The major jade mining regions are also o
limits to foreigners. The emporiums are therefore the only o icial channel where international buyers can
purchase Myanmar jade and gemstones. The vast majority of foreign buyers come from China.
During an emporium, jade and gemstones are grouped into lots and auctioned over the course of several
days. Auction winners must deposit 5 percent of the price of the lot and are given 90 days to claim the lot they
successfully bid on.
Global Witness' 2015 report consolidated data from industry sources about the quantity of jade that was sold
in emporiums from 2005 to 2014. A er the end of each emporium, an o icial press statement is released
announcing the quantity and value of jade sold at the auctions. What is important to note is that this data
shows the total amount that was bid by buyers. This means the buyer has paid the 5 percent deposit for the
lot but may or may not have paid the remaining sum in order to complete the purchase of the jade.
MGE has provided us with additional detailed data showing how much of the jade was actually fully paid for
during the 90-day period. It turns out that the amount of jade that is fully paid for and redeemed can be
significantly less than the amount initially auctioned. We have data for the amounts that were fully paid for
and redeemed for emporiums from 2011 to 2016. The graph below shows the two di erent quantities from
2011 to 2014, the years for which we have data for both auctioned and redeemed amounts.
Source: Global Witness and Myanmar Gems Enterprise • Get the data • Created with Datawrapper
Quantity of jade auctioned vs. fully paid for and redeemed at emporiums
Units: thousand KG
Quantity Auctioned Quantity Redeemed
5,000
10,000
15,000
2011 2012 2013 2014
Quantity auctioned data from industry sources compiled in Global Witness 2015 report with data available for 2005 to 2014. Quantity redeemed
data from Myanmar Gems Enterprise for 2011 to 2016.
The aggregate quantities sold are not the most useful piece of information that we can get from emporium
data. What we really want is how much of each type of jade was sold. Global Witness obtained the data for the
percentage split for the 2014 emporium for the auctioned jade and it was as follows:

We now have another estimate from the data provided by MGE for the jade that was actually paid for and
redeemed. In this estimate, the percentage of imperial jade is only 0.005 percent, much closer to the 2016
Harvard/Proximity study's estimate. There seems to be quite a bit of imperial jade that was not redeemed
a er the auction.
Four very di erent estimates of the percentage splits underscore the uncertainty of establishing the sector's
value.
The percentage split of the di erent types of jade is not the only source of uncertainty. There is also deep
uncertainty in price estimation. Fortunately, we can also use emporium data to estimate the average price of
each category of jade auctioned and sold. Global Witness used the data for auctions from the 2014 emporium
to estimate the average auctioned price per kilogram of each of the types of jade. Whereas they only had
access to one year's worth of auction data, MGE has provided us with data for multiple years of actual sales of
jade that were fully redeemed a er the auctions. From this data, we can also calculate the average price per
kilogram of each of the types of jade. The chart below compares the Global Witness estimates with our
estimates that use the latest data from MGE.

To recap, the following two tables show the emporium data we have used to help us estimate the total value
of Myanmar's jade industry.
Percentage splits and average price of each category of jade according to Global Witness' report on 2014
emporium auction data:
Imperial Commercial Utility
% Weight Average Price
USD per kg
USD per kg
USD per kg
2014 1.49% 19,492 11.33% 2,214 87.18% 505.5
Percentage splits and average price of each category of jade according to Myanmar Gems Enterprise'
emporium sales data:
Imperial Commercial Utility
USD per kg
USD per kg
USD per kg
2011 0.0020% 184,268 1.7017% 1,933 98.2963% 119
2012 0.0048% 62,487 6.2298% 911 93.7653% 86

2013 0.039% 22,592 9.5143% 2,470 90.7653% 305
2014 0.0046% 871,809 6.0548% 2,675 93.9406% 204
2015 0.0390% 97,655 6.0128% 2,000 93.9767% 169
2016 0.0042% 80,284 14.753% 701 85.2428% 101
Now we are ready to dive into the actual estimates.
Recalculating Global Witness' estimates
Let's go back to our formula for calculating the total value and update it with how we might be able to get
estimates for quantities and prices.
Although we do not have price and quantity data broken down by type of jade for the entire sector, we can
come up with estimates for volumes of each type of jade using data from emporiums, as well as information

from industry experts. We can also use average prices of each type of jade from emporium data to assume
that the overall jade market has the same price structure.
Let's see how we can use these quantity and price estimates to calculate the total value. For example,
suppose we have 1 kilogram of imperial jade valued at USD 20,000 per kilogram, 5 kilograms of
commercial jade valued at USD 2,000 per kilogram, and 20 kilograms of utility jade valued at USD 200 per
kilogram.
The Myanmar's Central Statistical Organization's o icial figures indicate a total of 16,684,386 kilograms of
jade was produced in fiscal year 2014.
First, we will try to re-calculate Global Witness' estimates, using both the 2013 Harvard/Proximity percentage
split and their 2014 emporium auctions percentage split..
Using the 2013 Harvard/Proximity percentage split and 2014 emporium auction prices, we get
5 percent imperial jade = 834,219 kilograms, valued at USD 19,491.97 per kilogram,
35 percent commercial jade = 5,839,535 kilograms, valued at USD 2,213.89 per kilogram,
and 60 percent utility jade = 10,010,632 kilograms, valued at USD 505.52 per kilogram.

Using the 2014 emporium auctions percentage split and 2014 emporium auction prices, we get
1.49 percent imperial jade = 248,597 kilograms, valued at USD 19,491.97 per kilogram,
11.33 percent commercial jade = 1,890,341 kilograms, valued at USD 2,213.89 per kilogram,
and 87.18 percent utility jade = 84,342,908 kilograms, valued at USD 505.52 per kilogram.
These two estimates, USD 34.2 billion and USD 16.4 billion, are not far o from Global Witness' estimates.
Their calculations yielded USD 34.25 billion and USD 15.45 billion for the emporium percentage split and the
Harvard/Proximity percentage split respectively.
The Global Witness report then incorporates more sales data from another local jade fair that was organized
in 2014, and applies the Harvard/Proximity 2013 percentage split again to this expanded dataset to arrive at
what Global Witness considered to be the most accurate estimate for the value of the jade sector, which was
USD 31 billion.
Can we get better estimates with new data?

It has been about three years since Global Witness' report was published. We now have new data from
industry experts and o icial details about emporiums from MGE. Following the same method that Global
Witness used, is it possible to determine if the new data produces a better estimate of the value of jade for
2014, when prices spiked?
First, we will use the 2016 Harvard/Proximity percentage splits, with the average prices from the 2014
emporium sales data from MGE. Applying this percentage split to the 16,684,386 kilograms of jade produced,
we get
0.01 percent imperial jade = 1,668 kilograms, valued at USD 871,808.57 per kilogram,
3.5 percent commercial jade = 583,954 kilograms, valued at USD 2,675.35 per kilogram,
Next, we use both the prices and percentage splits from 2014 emporium sales data from MGE. Applying this
percentage split to the 16,684,386 kilograms of jade produced, we get
0.00463 percent imperial jade = 772 kilograms, valued at USD 871,808.57 per kilogram,
6.05481 percent commercial jade = 1,010,208 kilograms, valued at USD 2,675.35 per kilogram,

Compared to Global Witness' two initial estimates of USD 34.25 billion and USD 15.45 billion, our two values
USD 6.3 billion and USD 6.6 billion, have a much narrower gap. They are however, about two to five times
smaller than Global Witness' estimates.
There are two other points of comparison to make. The first is the value of jade imports to China in 2014,
which stands at USD 12.8 billion. The Global Witness report takes this as the lower bound for the value of the
jade sector in 2014. It could be the case, however, that jade produced in one year might be exported in
another year. Given that prices were increasing up to 2014, exporters might have been selling stockpiles from
previous years. Secondly, when Global Witness calculated its USD 31 billion final figure using the expanded
data from the local jade fair, they actually obtained two values. One was USD 31 billion, which it got from
applying the Harvard/Proximity 2013 percentages, and another was USD 5.64 billion, obtained when applying
the percentage split from the 2014 emporium auction data. This figure, which Global Witness dismissed as
impossible because it was below their lower bound of USD 12.8 billion, is actually much closer to our own
estimates.
We are still barely scratching the surface when it comes to actually figuring out what the real value of
Myanmar's jade is. But with more data made available through transparency initiatives, we may get closer to
the true figure in the near future.
In the meantime, we can only come up with estimates for the value of Myanmar's jade industry that are
contingent on a lot of assumptions. Using the interactive tool below, you can test out your own assumptions
to observe how the valuations change.
Click on the box below to select a set of assumptions that we went over in the article:
Global Witness 2014 emporium auction prices with Harvard/Proximity 2013 percentage split
Click 'START' to start the calculation:


START
Quantity Value
Written by Yan Naung Oak. This article reflects his opinions, and does not represent the views or work of the
Natural Resource Governance Institute.

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