The Hindu Business Line : Cardamom recovers on short supply

CARDAMOM prices improved marginally on short supply at auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu following suspension of auctions on account of thin arrivals.

Only three companies had conducted auctions last week out of six. Now one of the two auctioneers based in Vandanmedu is also said to be suspending auctions from July 1 till mid-August. Onlytwo companies, based at Vandanmedu (Kerala) and Bodinayakannur (Tamil Nadu), will be conducting auctions in the coming weeks. Officially, the auctioneers cannot stop the auctions indefinitely and hence, they have been postponing it every week.

In the auction held on June 26 at Vandanmedu, 63 tonnes of cardamom arrived and the entire quantity was sold at an average price of 368.38 per kg, while at another auction on June 25 the arrivals stood at 10 tonne, of which, around 9.5 tonne was sold at an average price of Rs 346.93 per kg. However, arrivals at the Bodinayakannur auction on June 23 were 8 tonne, which was also sold out, market sources told Business Line.

As the season had ended cardamom arrivals at the auctions now are the stock released by the traders and some of the major planters. The traders and planters are estimated to hold around 200 tonne and 500 tonne, respectively, market sources said.

The prices of graded varieties at the last auction on June 26 were AGEB Rs 465-Rs 475, AGB Rs 340-Rs 350, AGS Rs 310-Rs 320, and AGS1 Rs 300 - Rs 310 per kg.

Total arrivals during the current season up to June 26 stood at 5,716 tonne out of which 5,309 tonne were sold and the weighted average price was Rs 361.38 per kg. As against this, 3,992 tonne of cardamom were sold from the total arrival of 4,441 tonne in the corresponding period in the previous season. The weighted average price was Rs 561.15 per kg, official sources said. According to them, export buying was virtually nil. However, domestic buyers were active. The total export in June was estimated at around 25 tonnes.

As the major cardamom growing regions in Kerala's Idukki had received good rains in the recent weeks, farmers have started re-planting in areas where the plants were destroyed by drought.