The Hindu Business Line : Hoping for better prices — Growers holding back white arecanut stocks

INSPITE of a bullish trend in arecanut market, bulk quantities of the commodity are yet to reach the market. Though the growers are getting anywhere between Rs 75 and Rs 80 a kg for the old stocks of white variety, sometimes old stocks do not come on to the trading platform in the Mangalore market.

On Wednesday, there was no sale of old stock of white arecanut. The new stock traded at Rs 45-58 a kg. There has been a jump of Rs 15-20 a kg for white variety this current season.

Old stocks of white variety of arecanut command good price in the market than the new stock.

Arecanut market analysts say the stockpiling of old stocks of arecanut by big farmers in anticipation of a still better price, decline in the yield of new stocks of arecanut, and better prices for alternative crops such as rubber are some of the reasons for adequate quantities of arecanut stock not reaching the market.

However, some people - who are importing arecanut through various means - are taking advantage of the price hike in the arecanut market, they say.

In anticipation of better prices for the commodity, many big growers store old stocks of arecanut. "It is essential for them to release their stock in the market. Otherwise the imported arecanut will get the benefit of price hike," says a source in the Mangalore Agriculturists Souharda Sahakari (MASS). Those with large arecanut holdings of arecanut plantations constitute nearly 10 per cent of the growers.

Added to this, there has been a decline of around 30 per cent in the crop this year. As a result, there has also been decline in the arrival of the new stocks of white variety of arecanut to the market, they say.

Some of the growers, who own rubber plantations, are storing the new stocks for next year. They have dual advantage in this. First, they can get the benefit of a good price for rubber this year. Second, they will get good price for the arecanut when it comes under the old stocks category next season.

Import thrives: Arecanut market analysts fear that some people, who import arecanut "illegally" through various means, are making money in the bullish market. Arecanut imported from Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh is available at Rs 45 a kg. The imported arecanut is mixed with the native varieties and sold in the domestic market, they say.

Sources in the MASS say imported arecanuts are sold in the major t markets such as Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. However, the customers in Gujarat, another major market for arecanut in the country, still prefer domestic variety, they say.