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The cardamom market gained slightly last week on self-regulated supply and some normal buying by exporters and domestic dealers at auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Upcountry buyers slowed their buying, while exporters bought 15-20 tonnes. Thus, a squeeze in supply aided by reports of a poor crop resulted in some buying and that helped the prices to move up marginally, market sources said.
Total output of the current crop is estimated to be below 50 per cent of the last season’s crop as nearly 85 per cent of harvesting is over by now, they said.
“The current arrivals comprise a good percentage of carryover stocks”, they claimed.
“At present, the plants are healthy but they require one or two showers now and if the growing areas received it in the coming days, then that would have a positive impact on the next crop,” they said.
On the other hand, if the dry spell continues without any rains, then it would be disastrous, they said.
As the arrivals showed a declining trend, the market picked up at the closing days of the week with the individual auction average touching Rs 800 a kg.
Normally, demand used to be thin for cardamom in December but it picks up in January, Mr P.C. Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told Business Line .
Last week, arrivals fell to around 355 tonnes from over 400 tonnes during the previous week due to drop in output coupled with a self imposed market intervention exercise to release small quantities, he said.
At the Sunday auction conducted by the KCPMC, total arrivals stood at 69.8 tonnes against 68.6 tonnes the previous Sunday and almost the entire quantity was sold out. The maximum price was at Rs 1,093 a kg.
Auction average price moved up to Rs 801.69 (Rs 786.71), Mr Punnoose said.
Total arrivals and sales during the current season from Auguat 1 to December 23 were at 5,920 tonnes and 5,638 tonnes respectively. Last year, from Dec 6 to 26, auctions were suspended following agitation against the Mullaperiyar Dam issue. Hence, the total arrivals and sales related to the corresponding period up to Dec 5, 2011 were at 8,255 tonnes and 8,033 tonnes respectively.
The weighted average price as on Dec 23 stood at around Rs 768.51 against 569.88 on Dec 5, last year. Prices of graded varieties remained unchanged at previous levels and that in Rs/kg were: AGEB: 980-990; AGB: 780-790; AGS: 745-755; and AGS-1: 720- 730.
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