Cardamom prices steady on limited activity

Cardamom prices were nearly steady last week at auctions on limited activities.

North Indian buyers were not buying on the assumption that prices would decline further once the growers would start releasing huge stocks held by them. Upcountry dealers believe that the growers are holding back good stocks with them.

Meanwhile, trade operators, majority of whom are based in Bodinaykannur, are said to be holding stocks based on their respective financial capacity, anticipating that the prices would touch Rs 1,500 a kg are facing a liquidity crunch for the past few weeks as they could not sell in the declining market. They were also not buying. Thus, trading activities have become thin, trade sources said.

Upcountry demand has also yet to pick up. Buying by exporters was also negligible. Any way, the market is expected to become active pushing prices up once the north Indian demand picked up in the coming days, they claimed.

The present arrivals are from the current harvesting and capsules are of medium size and that factor also kept prices at lower levels.

According to a dealer in Bodi, good colour 8mm bold was fetching Rs 1,500 a kg but its arrival is very thin. There has been a continuous decline in the arrivals as the harvesting is in the closing stages.

According to growers, there will be one or two round of picking. Total arrivals during the week stood at 165 tonnes.

The individual auction average price remained below Rs 1,200 a kg from Thursday onwards. The average price at the Sunday auction dropped to Rs 1,130 a kg from Rs 1,196 the previous Sunday.

Total arrivals at the KCPMC auction on Sunday stood at 30 tonnes and the entire quantity was sold out. Maximum price fetched was at Rs 1,418 a kg and the minimum was at Rs 983. Auction average was at Rs 1,130 a kg, Mr P.C. Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told Business Line.

According to him, the material arriving at the market, at present, is of medium size and from the current picking. “It is also one of the reasons for the decline in the current prices,” he said.

Green bold capsules are being held back by the major growers who would release it only when the prices moved up to their expected levels, he said.