Small cardamom prices last week witnessed a firmer trend on good export buying amid shrinkage in arrivals at auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Exporters were active and were covering and that in turn has kept the buoyancy in the market, PC Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told BusinessLine . They have bought an estimated 60 tonnes of exportable grade last week, he said. North Indian buyers slack citing slow down in retail sales due to higher prices.

Weather conditions continued to remain unfavourable with prevailing drought conditions. Water resources for irrigating the plants have almost dried up. In several estates, where irrigation facilities do not exist the plants have started to wither, sources said.

Arrivals last week stood at 463 tonnes from 12 auctions. The auction average was vacillating between ₹1,325 and ₹1,378 a kg.

Total arrivals during the season from August 1 up to February 11, 2017 were at 12,426 tonnes and sales were at 11,815 tonnes. The individual auction average for the season as on February 11 stood at ₹1,129.99/kg.

Prices in ₹/kg : 8mm bold good colour 1,600-1,655; 7-8 mm 1,460-1,520; 6-7 mm 1,380-1,420 and below 6 mm: 1,270-1,300.

Medium bulk was being traded at ₹1,350-1,400 a kg. Good bulk was fetching ₹1,450.

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