Comments
Having tested peak levels in the castor prices in November last year, farmers, traders, processors and other stakeholders have pinned their hopes on the crop outlook for 2018-19, to be released by the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) in Ahmedabad on Saturday for a price guidance.
At the 17th edition of the Global Castor Conferencein Ahmedabad, SEA along with Indian Agribusiness Systems Limited (AgriWatch) will release Indian castor crop survey 2018-19.
According to industry sources, the sentiment turned bullish after end of kharif sowing in September 2018, which is expected to fall amid water woes in the growing regions of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana. On November 15 castor seed prices touched a recent peak levels of over ₹6,200 a quintal, which was last tested in 2011.
However, the government estimates have pegged the castor crop size at 15.17 lakh tonnes for 2018-19, lower than 15.68 lakh tonnes in the fourth advance estimate of last year. Deficient rains and damage to the crop is feared to further shrink the crop size.
Spot prices at the Deesa market in Gujarat hovered around ₹5,272 a quintal, while NCDEX March futures hit a high of ₹5,320 on Friday. As per farmer sources, castor seed prices are set to make fresh highs in the coming days on bullish sentiment.
The conference will provide an opportunity for open discussions and exchange of views about the issues pertaining to castor business, and propose solutions for the problems faced by manufacturers, importers, exporters, technologists, and players from the commodity exchangesall over the world.
India’s production
For 2017-18, SEA-Agriwatch had predicted India’s castor crop at 14.3 lakh tonnes, with a sharp jump of 34 per cent over previous year. India is the largest castor producer in the world, supplying nearly 90 per cent of the global requirement.
India commands castor oil and derivatives exports at about ₹5,000-6,000 crore. Currently, around 40 per cent of India’s castor oil exports are directed to China, followed by Europe (30 per cent). While Japan, South Korea and some South American markets are seen as potential pockets.
The castor oil derivatives are essentially used in the industrial segments of bioplastics, biolubricants, organic personal care products, paints and coatings, textiles food, automobile and pharmaceuticals. As per an industry estimate, global castor oil and derivatives market size was pegged at around US $ 2.3 billion in 2016, which is growing at a higher single digit rate.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.