Cardamom dragged down by hefty arrivals
CARDAMOM prices in India have declined to between Rs430 ($8.50) and Rs450 per kg during the past couple of weeks due to a steady stream of arrivals at the auction centres in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
On average, more than 300 tonnes of the commodity have been arriving at the auction centres every week due to favourable weather conditions prevailing in the growing areas for the past few months.
Kerala’s Idukki district, which has a heavy concentration of cardamom plantations, has been receiving good rains at night over the past few days – a situation that, according to growers, is beneficial for the crop.
As a result, the crop quality has been good, and is likely to remain so in coming weeks if the favourable weather conditions persist.
The downside of this scenario is that buyers feel there will be uninterrupted good arrivals, so they have been covering only their immediate requirements.
“Heavy arrivals have caused demand to drop; and that, in turn, is pushing down prices, ” explained PC Punnoose, general manager of Cardamom Processing & Marketing Company.
