The Hindu Business Line : Cardamom prices rule steady

Strategy
Plea to extend the export subsidy to capitalise on the Saudi Arabian market
Short supply from Guatemala has opened up market to the Indian produce.

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Kochi Feb. 15 Cardamom prices ruled steady with marginal fluctuations during the week at the auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu on buying support.

Exporters were active, while the north Indian dealers were slow as they were buying to meet their immediate requirements.

The arrivals during the week were on the higher levels when compared to the corresponding period last season.

Arrivals

At the auction held on Wednesday by Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company (CPMC), Kumily, 64 tonnes of cardamom arrived and 62 tonnes were sold. The maximum price of Rs 474 was fetched by 8 mm bold; 7.5 mm was sold at Rs 390-420 while the current bulk at Rs 350-360 a kg. Rejection material fetched Rs 280-290. The average price was Rs 334.23 a kg, Mr P.C. Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told Business Line.

The average price at the auctions held on Tuesday by the Header Systems in Nedumkandam was Rs 340.21. The maximum price there stood at Rs 520 a kg.

Exporters bought 15 tonnes of cardamom at the Kumily auction.

According to official sources, 49 tonnes of the commodity was exported in January and the shipments in February are expected to be around 100 tonnes.

Total arrivals during the current season as on February 14 stood at 5,696 tonnes and the sales at 5,234 tonnes as against 6,735 tonnes and 6,303 tonnes respectively during the same period last season. The weighted average price as on February 14 was Rs 299.98 compared to Rs 221.47 on the same day the previous season.

The prices of graded varieties as on February 10 were AGEB Rs 420-430, AGB Rs 335-345, AGS Rs 315-325 and AGS 1 Rs 280-290 a kg. The open market prices on Thursday at Bodinayakannur were AGEB Rs 400-410, AGB Rs 325-330, AGS Rs 300-310 and AGS 1 Rs 270-280 a kg. Current bulk was fetching Rs 350-450 a kg.

Severe drought conditions are felt in the growing region as plants have started drying up mainly in areas having no irrigation facilities.

Export subsidy

Meanwhile, the cardamom exporters have urged the Union Minister of State for Commerce during his visit to the Idukki district during the week, to extend the export subsidy for cardamom to capitalise on the Saudi Arabian market, which has been opened up to the Indian produce following short supply from Guatemala. A subsidy cushion would make the Indian produce competitive in this market, export sources said.

They have also suggested that a marketing campaign should be launched in the West Asian markets projecting the superior quality of the Indian aromatic spice, they added.