The Hindu Business Line : Cardamom prices slip on record sales

LOW prices due to oversupply resulting from the bumper crop have pushed up sales of cardamom through auctions to record levels during the current season.

Sales through auction centres in Kerala's Idukki district and at Bodinayakannur in Tamil Nadu stood at 5,469 tonnes from August 1, 2005 to January 11, 2006 as against 3,014 tonne in the same period last year. It is the highest ever in the history of cardamom auctions here.

Sales in Kozhikode and the auction centres in Karnataka are estimated at around 2,500 tonnes. The prices, therefore, continued to remain low despite good buying activity as a result of increased supply, market sources in Kumily and Bodinayakannur told Business Line on Thursday.

Production in 2005-06 is estimated at around 13,500 tonnes as against 11,500 tonnes last season.

At the Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company (CPMC) auction at Kumily on Wednesday out of the 86 tonnes that arrived, 82 tonnes were sold. The maximum price fell to Rs 387 a kg from Rs 411 a kg in the previous week. The minimum price fetched was Rs 125 a kg.

Withdrawals were very little when compared to the arrivals at all the auctions held during the week, auction sources said. At the CPA auction in Bodinayakannur on January 9, of the 29 tonnes arrived 23.5 tonnes of cardamom were sold.

Similarly, on January 8 auction at Kumily by CPMC, 52 tonnes were sold out of the total arrival of 53 tonnes, they said.

However, export buying witnessed a decline during the week. The export sources attributed this phenomenon to fall in demand from the major overseas markets where the festival season is over.

The total arrivals during the current season stood at 5,835 tonnes as against 3,220 tonnes last season. The weighted average price in the current season as on January 11 was Rs 224.56 a kg compared to Rs 303.78 a kg in the same day last year.

The prices of graded varieties as on January 7 were AGEB Rs 300 - Rs 310, AGB Rs 215 - Rs 225, AGS Rs 200 - Rs 210 and AGS 1 Rs 175 - Rs 190 a Kg.

Meanwhile, the local prices at Bodinayakannur on Thursday were AGEB Rs 290 - Rs 300, AGB Rs 210 - Rs 220, AGS Rs 200 - Rs 210 and AGS 1 Rs 175 - Rs 185 a kg. The running bulk was fetching Rs 200 - Rs 240 a kg.

The peak harvesting-season has almost come to an end and hence, the picking has slowed down.