The human hair business has managed to survive, and even thrive, in southern Mandalay Region despite the economic chaos brought by the 2021 coup and ensuing conflict.
By FRONTIER
Pyawbwe is the heart of Myanmar’s hair trade. The dusty township in southern Mandalay Region has served a growing global market for wigs and hair extensions for at least two decades.
Myanmar hair, which traders say is prized for its softness and versatility, is commonly sold by local women needing extra income. However, much of the processed hair exported from Myanmar is not locally sourced.
With demand outstripping supply, processing centres import tangled strands, known as raw hair, primarily from India but also Bangladesh and Pakistan. Finished bunches and tresses then move along the regional supply chain to China and Vietnam, where they are made into wigs and hair extensions and exported around the world.
Such is the demand that most of the women of Pyawbwe appear to be engaged in sorting hair, at least as a side job. Nearby townships of Yamethin, Meiktila and Thazi have also joined the trend, with business booming there from early 2023.
Sorting human hair is a painstaking and laborious process that has created its own intricate network of large-scale factories, smaller workshops and independent craftswomen, besides wholesalers and retailers.
“Some villagers work at the factory for a daily wage, while others buy raw materials and work from home as sole proprietors. There are around 200 households in my village, with over 20 involved as sole proprietors,” explained a resident of Ohn Thee Kwe village in Yamethin, where locals have become more involved in the hair business since a Pyawbwe-based factory opened a second location there two years ago.
She said workers earn K6,000 per day, a little under US$1 at the current market rate, and work from 7am to 5:30pm with an hour lunch break.
The hair business has also extended some 180 kilometres south, to Yedashe Township in Bago Region.
“I started my business after Thingyan,” said a woman in Yedashe, referring to the Myanmar new year festival in April. “A few people in my area are doing this. I buy raw materials from Pyawbwe and sell the finished product there too. My profits are still low because I’m not experienced enough. I feel I need to invest more time.”
She said she makes about K30,000 profit per viss, or 1.68 kilograms, and can produce about three viss per month.
A fiddly business
Transforming raw hair into shining finished tresses and bunches has five distinct stages: cleaning, pulling, selection of length, adjustment and a final step of further pulling.
Cleaning is done by soaking the raw hair in conditioner for an hour. Each strand is then carefully pulled out using needles, tacked to a wooden stand and further cleaned on a big comb called a khone.
Strands of uneven length obtained during the pulling stage are separated into shorter lengths, ranging from 20 to 76 centimetres. Adjustment involves straightening the separated lengths again and tying them with bands into tresses.
Sole proprietors who buy raw materials typically work only up to the hair adjustment stage, leaving out the final pulling process, explained a woman in Pyawbwe’s Lay Thar Kone village. “Sole proprietors like us can’t do more than that. Only those who run hair factories or are wholesalers can.”
This growing industry has attracted investments from Chinese businesspeople who rent real estate to open hair factories, and have transformed the local economy. According to residents of Lay Thar Kone, which has around 600 households, Chinese nationals have opened five factories, employing 30-50 people each, while Myanmar nationals are running four, employing around 20 people each.
“This year a new Chinese factory opened in our village. Workers prefer to work at the Chinese factory because they have fixed working hours, a steady supply of raw materials, and no shutdowns,” said a woman in Lay Thar Kone. “In contrast the factories run by Myanmar people shut down when it’s not convenient and reopen when business is good, so there are no permanent jobs for the workers there.”
The success spawned by Pyawbwe has not come easily. The 2021 military coup and the spreading conflict have caused delays and higher transport costs over the past few years, according to wholesalers. Before the coup, it usually took from five to seven days to import materials from India and then transport them from Yangon to Pyawbwe. But now, partly thanks to a proliferation of security checkpoints by different armed actors, the journey takes two weeks.
Meanwhile, with the Myanmar kyat collapsing in value, the price of raw Indian hair has tripled.
Raw hair cost around K150,000 per viss five years ago, according to hair business owners, but last year was up to K400,000 and is currently being sold by wholesalers for as much as K620,000.
“Changing policies since the coup have made it difficult to renew and obtain import licences,” added one Pyawbwe wholesaler.
Staying afloat
Rising overhead is deterring some investment in the industry.
“About a year ago, my parents advised me to start a hair business in the village so I gave up my job in Yangon, where I earned just over K200,000 a month, and returned to set it up,” said Ma Shwe Nwe, who left her job at a rice noodle factory to come back to Kyi Ni village in Pyawbwe and start a hair processing factory.
“It’s been more profitable than my old work in the city but now with the high price of hair I am hesitant to invest more,” she said.
A woman working at a Chinese hair factory in Yamethin said business owners need to be careful not to cut corners, insisting that quality mattered more than quantity. “If factory owners demand more, the workers have to rush, which leads to damaged hair, reduced quality and a higher proportion of short hair. More long hair yields greater profits,” she said.
“This work requires patience because each tangled hair strand must be carefully pulled out. Even if someone is highly skilled, they typically can’t handle more than 15 ticals a day,” she added, a tical being 16.33 grams.
But despite limits on production, factory workers say they can still earn a daily wage without having to resort to alternative employment or labour in the fields.
“I’ve been working at a hair factory for about six years now. I have a stable income and appreciate not having to work under the sun,” said a woman in Thar Yar Kone village. “I would like to start my own business at home with my own investment, but my family members are busy with their own work and can’t assist me, so I keep working here.”
Individuals working independently at home typically purchase at least 50 ticals, half a viss, of raw hair and earn between K30,000-K200,000 a viss, taking an average of one week to 10 days to process each viss.
Ma Thida Aye, a sole proprietor in Meiktila, worked in a hair factory for about one month and then set up her home business five years ago. “We also run a grocery shop at home and do farming. I manage this hair business while selling groceries. The rest of the family helps when they have free time. I can do this work at home and at any time, unlike in a factory where there are fixed hours,” she said.
“This job provides a side income for the family. In our area almost every household does it. During the hot season when farmers are not working, they focus more on this job,” she said, pointing out that traders also drop their prices at this peak production time.
“I bought a viss at the beginning of June and made about K200,000. However, it’s rare for me to make such a large amount,” said Ma Thin Lae in Pyawbwe’s South Nyaung Kone village.
Thin Lae previously worked in hair factories, but for more than two years she has been a sole proprietor at home. Her family mostly lives off farming but the hair business brings in extra income and sometimes they invest more and hire workers.
She is set on one day becoming a wholesaler, opening multiple shops. However, she said that “right now, the price of raw hair is rising, so we have to be a bit cautious”.
Another woman, in Pyawbwe’s Kyi Ni village, said she hopes to progress from being a sole proprietor to eventually opening her own hair factory.
“People who open a hair factory or become wholesalers can become wealthy more easily,” she said. “There are many hair factories in our village.”
“At times I’ve purchased large amounts of raw materials and hired about four or five workers. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to open such a factory myself, but it’s part of my future plans.”
