Çardamom (small) prices continued to rise despite higher arrivals at the auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Even though traders are expecting the fresh capsules to arrive by mid-June, they were absorbing whatever material arrived at the market. Therefore, the prices were showing a steady/firmer trend, PC Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC told BusinessLine.

According to him, there is definitely a growth in consumption in the country, which itself is a huge market. “The change in the food habits and the economic growth is appears to have contributed to a positive demand growth for the spice. Besides, fixing of a price for imported material has made imports of cardamom from other sources unattractive. These factors have also aided the demand growth,” he said.

Export buying continued to remain slow because of non-availability of exportable variety of cardamom, Ranganathan, a dealer in Bodinayakannur, said. Exporters might have bought an estimated 20 tonnes.

The individual auction average has moved up and it was vacillating between ₹650 and ₹700 a kg last week whereas, during this week last year the average price was at around ₹760 a kg.

Total arrivals during the season up to May 30 stood at 19,585 tonnes against 20,368 tonnes during the same period last year. The sales were at 19,023 tonnes and 19,674 tonnes respectively.

The auction average as on May 30 was at ₹675 a kg (₹745).

Prices of graded varieties (₹/kg): 8mm bold green 980-1,020; 7-8mm 840-860; below 6 mm: 630-650.

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