Cardamom continued its downtrend last week on slack demand despite fall in arrivals at the auctions.

However, compared with the individual auction average in the same period a year ago and the year before that, the average price was higher.

Severe heat wave conditions prevailing in the North have affected the retail business in those regions and that in turn has slowed down upcountry buying, market sources told Business Line.

On the other hand, they said export buying has also been poor because of a slack demand. Guatemala seems to cater to major markets such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries at competitive prices when Indian prices were ruling high.

This year, Ramzan falls early almost before the beginning of harvest in India and hence, buying has also taken place early, they said.

At the KCPMC auction, arrivals dropped to 30.2 tonnes from 46.4 tonnes the previous Sunday and the entire quantity was sold out, PC Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC, Kumily, said.

The maximum price was ₹933/kg and the minimum ₹417. Auction average fell to ₹701.07 from ₹721.73 the previous Sunday, he said.

In fact, prices dropped to below ₹700 from Wednesday onwards to Saturday last, he said.

During the current season of the crop, arrivals stood at 20,418 tonnes against 14,041 tonnes as on June 8 during the last season.

Sales were 19,798 tonnes against 13,424 tonnes.

The weighted average price as on June 8 stood at ₹641.23 (₹709.09). Prices of all graded varieties (₹/kg): AGEB 920-930; AGB 720-730; AGS 690-700 and AGS -1: 670-680.

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