• 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 , June 9

CARDAMOM prices ruled steady on buying support at auctions held in Kerala during the week, while there were no auctions in Tamil Nadu.

At the season's last auction at Kumily on Wednesday, 33 tonnes of cardamom were sold. Buyers were active probably because of the suspension of auctions by a company for one month.

The auctions are expected to resume by mid-July. While 8 mm bold fetched Rs 460 a kg, 7-7.5 mm was sold at Rs 370 a kg.

The current bulk fetched Rs 275 a kg, market sources told Business Line. Exporters bought around five tonnes of sick variety.

This variety is mainly exported to Japan. Exporters were not active asthe quality of the capsules was inferior, they said.

The other two companies, which are currently conducting auctions at Vandanmedu in Kerala, are Cardamom Marketing Corporation and MAS Enterprises.

The arrivals at these two centres were 51 tonnes and 11 tonnes on June 4 and June 3 respectively.

The three auctioneers in Bodinayakannur in Tamil Nadu have not conducted auctions during the week citing poor arrivals.

However, according to sources, the companies needed a month's time to settle their accounts and hence have suspended the auctions.

During the current season up to June 8, total arrivals stood at 5,028 tonnes, of which 4,685 tonnes were sold.

In the same period last season, 4,079 tonnes of cardamom were sold out of the total arrivals of 5,476 tonnes.

The weighted average price this season was Rs 303.04 a kg as against Rs 361.88 last season.

Prices of graded varieties as on June 4 were AGEB — Rs 390-400, AGB — Rs 285-295, AGS — Rs 275-285 and AGS1 — Rs 255-265 a kg.

Export in April was 30 tonnes as against 44 tonnes in April 2004.

According to exporters, the decline was due to uncompetitive prices. The prices quoted by Guatemala in the overseas market were lower than ours, they said.

The weather conditions in the growing areas have been favourable and hence the next crop is expected to arrive in the market by early July.

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

Stories in this Section
Rainfall weak in onset phase of monsoon

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