The Hindu Business Line : Growers find jaggery prices `encouraging'

JAGGERY prices are fairly encouraging this season at the Anakapalle jaggery market yard, though not as high as last year, and the farmers are hoping the trend will continue till the end of the season.

Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam is the second biggest jaggery trading centre in the country after Hapur in Uttar Pradesh.

Currently, black jaggery fetchesRs 105-107 per 10 kg and white jaggery Rs 125-126 per 10 kg.

On the aggregate, 60,000-70,000 lumps (each weighing roughly 15 kg) are arriving in the market every day.

The season begins in September and ends in July, but the trading is brisk in the four months of December, January, February and March.

Last season (2003-2004), 39 lakhs of lumps were traded here.

With the increase in acreage and timely rains, the yields improved this season and it is expected that the number may be in the range of 45-50 lakh lumps.

``We expect arrivals to improve after Sankranti and they may touch 70,000-80,000 lumps a day,'' Mr K. Krishna, a trader, said.

He said the jaggery was being absorbed by the upcountry markets, mostly Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.

``Prices here depend on upcountry markets and the offtake there. There are frequent fluctuations,'' he said.

Futures trading in jaggery: The National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) proposes to include jaggery in the list of 19 more commodities to be added shortly.

Trading in these commodities may commence from March 2005.

If futures trading becomes a reality, some of the NCDEX members may open branches at Anakapalle.

The farmers and traders here may be in a better position to withstand the price fluctuations.