Cardamom prices continued to slip on heavy arrivals at last week’s auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Liquidation in good quantities by growers and dealers following intermittent rains in the growing regions and a consequent fear of a price fall has led to the surge in arrivals, PC Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, told BusinessLine.

As the prices have fallen to unexpected levels both upcountry buyers and exporters were buying actively.

Upcountry dealers who have bought at higher prices were covering at the current prices briskly to mix it and so as to balance the prices, Punnoose said. Exporters were also active and bought an estimated 50 tonnes last week, trade sources said.

Arrivals last week were at around 510 tonnes against 341 tonnes during the same week of the previous season, trade sources claimed.

Arrivals stood at 23.8 tonnes and of this 23.6 tonnes were traded. The auction average dropped to around ₹620 a kg from about ₹640 the previous Monday.

The individual auction average last week vacillated between ₹620 and ₹700 a kg. Where as, during this week last year the average price was swinging between ₹850 and ₹990 a kg.

Prices as on April 27 was at ₹929.06 a kg against last year’s ₹640.

Total arrivals during the season up to April 25 stood at 17,484 tonnes against 18,863 tonnes during the same period last year. The sales were at 17,058 tonnes and 18,253 tonnes respectively.

The auction average as on April 25 was at around ₹695 (₹865) a kg.

Prices of graded varieties (₹/kg): 8 mm bold green 960-1,000; 7-8 mm 800-850; 6-7 mm 720-750; below 6 mm: 650-700.

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