Agri Buzz: India Spices Exports Up 29% In Value During April-September.

India's spice exports rose by 29 per cent in value terms to Rs. 4,165.58 crore in the first six months of the current fiscal on account of increasedrealization from cardamom (small and large) and ginger. The volume of shipments, however, fell by 19 per cent to 2.37 lakh tonnes during the period, Spice Board data said.The country's spice export earnings stood at Rs. 3,220.16 crore in the same period last fiscal, when the volume of shipments amounted to 2.94 tonnes.In US dollar terms, exports rose by 32 per cent to USD 920.55 million in April-September, 2011, from USD 699.25 million in the corresponding period of the previous year.

The export value of small cardamom rose more than three-fold to Rs. 160.99 crore in April-September, 2011, from Rs. 39.84 crore in the year-ago period. Similarly, the export value of large cardamom rose more than two-fold to Rs. 22.67 crore in the first six months of the current fiscal from Rs. 9.96 crore in the year-ago period, while earnings from ginger consignments more than doubled to Rs. 90.02 crore in the first half of the 2011-12 financial year from Rs. 35.87 crore in the same period last fiscal.

However, the going was not so good for garlic and fennel. The export value of garlic declined by 90 per cent to Rs. 5.98 crore in April-September, 2011, from Rs. 58.99 crore in the same period of the previous year.

Similarly, in the case of fennel, the export value fell by 29 per cent to Rs. 34.17 crore in April-September, 2011, from Rs. 48.03 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The volume of exports mainly declined in the first six months of the current financial year due to a fall in demand for garlic, coriander and fennel.In terms of volume, garlic shipments fell by 93 per cent to 1,010 tonnes in April-September this fiscal from 15,525 tonnes in the same period last fiscal.

Likewise, shipments of coriander fell by 50 per cent to 13,500 tonnes in April-September, 2011, from 26,850 tonnes in the same period of the previous year, while fennel exports fell by 38 per cent to 3,500 tonnes in H1, FY2012, from 5,625 tonnes in the same period last fiscal.The board aims to ship 5 lakh tonnes of spices to earn forex revenue of Rs. 6,500 crore (USD 1,450 million) this financial year.

Source : indiainfoline.com