• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

G.K. Nair

Kochi , Feb. 13

CARDAMOM prices ruled steady during the week with marginal improvement in auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu on some buying support.

Upcountry dealers were seen active while export buying was very poor, trading sources at Kumily and Bodinayakannur told Business Line.

North Indian buyers were buying only the quantity required to meet their commitments.

They seem to be not interested to keep any inventory hoping that the prices might fall when Guatemala cardamom becomes available in the market.

There are rumours that the upcountry market has good quantity of the imported produce.

But, according to market sources, "the quantity available does not seem to be at the levels as inflated".

The current revival of buying activity is an indication of this, they claimed.

At Bodinayakannur on Thursday, three tonnes were bought for auction and almost all the entire quantity was sold. Similarly at Kumily on Wednesday, the arrivals stood at 20 tonnes and the entire quantity was sold, according to Mr P.C. Punnoose, General Manager, Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company, Kumily.

He said bold varieties fetched Rs 460 a kg, while bulk was sold at Rs 325-330 a kg. The average price was Rs 340 a kg.

According to him, export chances are bleak as low priced Guatemala cardamom is available in plenty in the overseas markets.

The country is offering its produce at $4.5 to $5 in the Gulf markets while India's price is almost double that of it, he said.

The airfreight subsidy, he said, did not make any impact in boosting the exports now.

The total arrivals during the current season up to February 9 stood at 3,612 tonnes and of this 3,348 tonnes were sold. During the corresponding period last year, 3,488 tonnes were sold out of the arrival of 3,803 tonnes.

The weighted average price during the current season is Rs 305.31 a kg as against Rs 373.07 a kg last season.

The prices of graded varieties as on February 5 were AGEB Rs 440-450, AGB Rs 345-350, AGS Rs 330-335 and AGS 1 Rs 295-305 a kg.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Himalaya takes up contract farming of culinary herbs

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line