Demand from the corporate sector and low arrivals of copra drove coconut oil prices to a new high in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Prices touched ₹14,100/quintal in Kerala (₹13,900), while in Tamil Nadu it ruled at ₹13,800 (₹13,200).
According to Thalath Mahmood, Director, Cochin Oil Merchants Association (COMA), copra prices have surged to ₹10,400 a quintal in Kerala and ₹9,900 in Tamil Nadu against ₹9,800 last week. He cited the setting in of the monsoon coupled with upcountry demand for the price surge. “Till last weekend, the coconut oil was sold at ₹1,930-2,000 for 15-kg loose pack, but on Wednesday the price spurted to ₹2,100. There is no reason for such sudden increase and looks like mere speculation. But the offtake was limited,” said RM Palanisamy, a coconut oil dealer in Erode.
However, Bharat Khona, former Board Member of COMA, was of the view that a speculative trend is witnessing in the market trend with the absence of strong upcountry demand.
Sales of copra touched 120 tonnes a day and many reputed coconut oil firms are showing interest in buying at Erode paying ₹10,000 a quintal, which is ₹1,500 more than last week. On Wednesday, the copra was sold at ₹9,800-10,000 a quintal in Perundurai and other cooperative societies. Almost all the 50 quintals were sold.
( With inputs from Our Correspondent, Erode)
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.