Heavy arrivals pound turmeric

Arrivals of over 11,000 bags on Friday dented prices of turmeric in Erode markets.

“The price of turmeric decreased by over Rs 200 a quintal on Friday in Erode as arrivals shot up to more than 11,000 bags. Only about 40 per cent of the arrivals were sold. Limited stocks were bought as there were no new orders,” said Mr RV. Ravishankar, President, Erode Turmeric Merchants Association.

Futures, too, decreased sharply as the price fell below Rs 6,700 a quintal, he said. Even the hybrid variety decreased by Rs 1,000 a quintal on Friday as the quality of arrivals remained between poor and average.

Farmers said they are unable to sell their huge accumulated stocks because of such low prices. This year is a bad year for them as they could not get good price for the turmeric. Few bulk orders were placed to fulfil local commitments as there was no demand from North Indian merchants.

In the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association Sales yard, the hybrid variety was sold at Rs 7,100 a quintal, against Rs 8,037 a quintal sold on Thursday. The finger variety fell Rs 200 a quintal. However, prices of a few bags of quality crop rose by Rs 300 a quintal at the Regulated Marketing Committee and by Rs 100 a quintal at the Erode Cooperative Marketing Society.

In the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association Sales Yard, the finger variety was sold at Rs 5,009-6,469 and the root variety at Rs 4,799-6,059.

Salem Crop: The finger variety was sold at Rs 6,160-7,100 and the root variety at Rs 5,589-6,200. Only 498 of the 2,639 bags that arrived were sold.

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