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Cardamom prices continued to gain, albeit marginally, despite some slackness in upcountry buying following a squeeze in supply last week believed to be due to regulated supply at auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Exporters were active and said to have covered an estimated 25 tonnes of fresh cardamom last week. However, buyers from north Indian centres were slow due to drop in sales because of severe cold conditions prevailing in many parts of the up country region, market sources told Business Line . They said retailers were not opening the shops because of the unfavourable weather conditions. This phenomenon has led to a drop in demand which is only a temporary phenomenon, they claimed.
Currently, last round of picking is under way and that would come to a close by Jan end. It gives the indication that the total output of the current crop is estimated to be below 50 per cent of the last season’s crop.
Total arrivals last week dropped to 268.7 tonnes from around 355 tonnes the week before. According to trade sources total arrivals during April 1-November 30 last year stood at 12,500 tonnes and as against 9,500 tonnes came to the auction centres in the corresponding period this year and that showed a sharp fall of 3,000 tonnes.
The individual auction average price is expected to vacillate at Rs 800-820 a kg in the coming days given the current supply demand trend, they claimed.
At the Sunday auction, conducted by the KCPMC, total arrivals stood at 72 as against 70 tonnes the previous Sunday and almost the entire quantity was sold out. The maximum price was at Rs 1,065. Auction average price moved up to 812 from 801.69 the previous Sunday, P.C Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told Business Line .
Total arrivals and sales during the current season from Aug 1 to Dec 30 were at 6,187 tonnes (8,574 tonnes) and 5,894 tonnes (8,335) tonnes respectively.
The weighted average price as on Dec 30 stood at around Rs 770.59 against 568.27 as on the same date last year.
Prices of graded varieties were nearly steady at previous levels in Rs/kg were: AGEB: 970-990; AGB: 770-790; AGS: 735-755; and AGS-1: 710-730.
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