Heavy arrivals squeeze tomato
Lower arrivals in the market pushed up tomato prices by Rs 100-300 a quintal on Sunday.
Around 600 crates (a crate is 25 kg) of different varieties of tomato arrived at the Karnal vegetable market and were quoted between Rs 600-2,200 a quintal. There were around 2,500 crates of varieties such as Anoop, Himsona, Trishul, Himshikhar and Ahmedabad.
Vikas Sachdeva, a trade expert, told Business Line, that low availability of stocks coupled with frantic buying by traders mainly pushed tomato prices upwards. There was no particular reason behind the fall in arrivals and it may improve in the coming days, he added.
Out of total arrivals, about 35 per cent stock was of low quality; around 30 per cent was of medium quality, while about 35 per cent was of superior quality.
Prices of superior quality increased by Rs 200 a quintal and quoted at Rs 1,800-2,200 a quintal.
Prices of medium quality went up by Rs 300 and quoted at 1,100-1,700 a quintal, while low quality produce was at Rs 600-1,000 a quintal, up by Rs 100 from the previous levels.
After trading in a tight range throughout the week, tomato prices improved on low stocks, Vikas Sachdeva said.
Traders expect that the market may continue to rule around current levels for the next few days.
On Sunday, not a single crate remained unsold because of low stocks.
As expected, unwanted rainfall in February has affected the yield and quality of the new crop. Yield from the new crop is lower and the tomato size is smaller. Quality of the stocks is likely to remain lower in the coming days.
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