Kochi, Jan. 23: The cardamom market last week witnessed a marginal improvement in prices on good buying support from both exporters and upcountry dealers at the auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Exporters are reported to have bought around 150 tonnes last week. North Indian dealers were also actively covering.
Normally, at this time of the year, the harvesting is in the final stages with one more round to go and the harvesting output is expected to be much lower in the current and coming round.
If the current weather conditions continued to persist that could squeeze the arrivals in the coming weeks, said traders. This phenomenon could be attributed to the revived upcountry demand and consequent marginal gain in the prices, Mr P.C. Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told Business Line.
There was no auction last Monday on account of Mattu Pongal, trade sources said.
The individual auction average price gained marginally from the previous week and fluctuated between Rs 490 and Rs 535 a kg.
Total arrivals at last Sunday's auction by the KCPMC stood at 111 tonnes and almost the entire quantity was sold. The maximum price was at Rs 747 a kg and the minimum was Rs 331.50 while the auction average was at Rs 501 a kg, Mr Punnoose said.
Arrival of good quality capsules continued to be thin and that was also restricting the upward trend in the prices, trade sources in Bodinayakannur said. Limited availability of 8mm bold continued to keep its prices at Rs 800-820 a kg last week. Similarly good bulk was fetching Rs 580 a kg.
“In fact, there was an overall improvement of Rs 15-20 a kg in the prices,” they said.
Total arrivals as on January 22, stood at around 10,410 tonnes and the sales were around 10,130 tonnes as against 6,910 tonnes of arrivals and around 6,875 tonnes sales in the same period last year.
Weighted average price as on January 22 was at about Rs 565 a kg as against around Rs 1,075 on the same date last year, auction sources said.
Prices of graded varieties in Bodinayakannur on January 22 remained at the previous levels. Prices in Rs/kg were: AGEB Rs 640-650; AGB Rs 565-575; AGS Rs 540-550 and AGS 1: Rs 510, trade sources in Bodi said.
Dry weather conditions are prevailing in the growing areas and there hasn't been a shower for the past month. If the current dry spell continued that would have a negative impact on the plants, some of the Idukki growers said.
Source : thehindubusinessline.com