Amidst good arrivals of 62 tonnes, cardamom auction market at Spices Park, Puttady was strong and steady on Tuesday.

However, the upward trend in prices has forced traders not to buy at increased rates and they are adopting a watching mode. The upcountry demand is yet to pick up as North Indian buyers are not fully active.

According to traders, the market is currently running at high rates compared to previous years and the price is almost 2 to 3 times than the normal level. Given the risk factor, buyers are not going either for heavy buying or for stock and sale.

The average price realised in the morning trade conducted by SMTC, Kumily was Rs 2678.42 per kg. There were 182 lots and a particular lot fetched a maximum price tag of Rs 2872.50 per kg. The quantity on offer was 33 tonnes.

The afternoon trade was conducted by Sugandhagiri and the average price realised was Rs 2695.52 per kg on an offer of 30 tonnes. The maximum price quoted by a particular lot was Rs 2838 per kg.

Trade analysts Acumen Capital Markets said that the prices advanced in the Monday’s auction due to steady arrivals. The cardamom December futures gained by 3.97 per cent or Rs 94.50 when last traded at Rs 2472 on Monday.

Sellers holding stock in Kochi pepper trade

Holding of pepper by sellers has led to low arrivals for Kochi trade today.

As many as seven tonnes were on offer and it was traded at Rs 318 per kg, up by Rs 1/kg. Sellers in the primary market are not interested in trading as they do not want to part with their limited stock at the current prices, said Kishore Shamji of Kishor Spices.

According to him, the International Pepper Community meeting is going on in Vietnam. The production in that country was down by 20 per cent because of unfavourable climatic conditions and they are making a hue and cry at low prices. The current production in that country was at 2,20,000 tonnes.