The Hindu Business Line : Sharp fall in ginger exports

HIGH prices and fall in production has pushed down ginger exports from the country during April-January 2003-04 to less than half of what was exported in the corresponding period last year.

The export of this commodity fell to 3,400 tonnes valued at Rs 17.76 crore this fiscal up to January from 7,587 tonnes valued at Rs 20.59 crore registering a decline of 4,187 tonnes.

However, the difference in value was only Rs 2.83 crore, thanks to the high unit value realisation this year. Given this situation, exports may fall far short of the targeted 9,000 tonnes this fiscal.

Most of the exporters who had entered in to contracts at low prices are finding it difficult to fulfil their commitments.

Added to this, there is a short supply due to low production and the high domestic demand during the winter months.

As raw ginger prices remained at higher levels, the farmers in the growing areas, especially in the North-eastern region, found it remunerative to sell their produce as raw. This has negatively affected the supply of dried ginger, trading sources told Business Line.

As a result, the price of dried ginger shot up to Rs125-135 per kg. Arrivals on Saturday in the Kochi market, the sources said, was around 7.5 tonnes. The export price of Indian ginger has touched $3,500 a tonne as against the prevailing international prices of $2,500-2,700 a tonne. "Thus we are outpriced and hence there are no buyers,'' they pointed out. China was offering at $2,500 a tonne, which, they claimed, could be of low quality.

Non-availability or thin supply from other sources such as China and Nigeria has, in fact, made India the only source, which could still entertain orders for more quantity. But, because of the prevailing higher prices nobody is interested to buy from here, they said.

The main reasons attributed to the rise in ginger prices are giving up of ginger cultivation by farmers in Nigeria, one of the major producers in the world, and the crop failure in China. Other producers apart from India are Thailand and Myanmar.

In India, ginger is grown in an estimated 75,000 hectares with a projected production of around 2.6 lakh tonnes, official sources said.

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