Adverse climatic conditions took its toll on India’s productions of
important agri commodities like tea, coffee, cardamom and rubber during
the year 2024. However, the prices of tea and coffee, the country’s two
most popular brews, witnessed buoyancy on the back of lower productions
mainly due to unfavourable climatic conditions.
Unfavourable weather conditions also reduced yields for pepper and
cardamom and that led prices of the two spices to remain steady
throughout 2024. Moreover, robust global demands further contributed to
the uptick in prices.
Coffee industry
Indian coffee industry benefitted to a great extent from the surging trend in the global prices during 2024, which was largely driven by the tight supplies from large producers such as Brazil and Vietnam among others, where erratic climate impacted the output. The buoyant price trend is seen continuing into the new year.
Higher buying from European customers such as Italy and Germany led to the shipments exceeding the 4 lakh tonnes mark during the calendar year 2024.
Pepper and cardamom reported steady prices throughout 2024 and factors such as unfavourable weather conditions, reduced yields, and robust global demand contributed to the uptick in prices, according to R Sanjith, Secretary General, UPASI.
Cardamom production is expected to decline during 2024-25 due to severe drought like situation from January to May last year with no rains for nearly 122 days and the production would be in the range of 18,000-20,000 tonnes. With lower yields expected from India and Guatemala, the market is bracing for supply constraints as demand gears up, Sanjith said.
The anticipated shortfall could boost demand for Indian cardamom, creating export opportunities in Gulf markets for their upcoming festive season. Average price for the crop season August- October, 2024 was Rs 2253.14 per kg, an increase of Rs 427.49 per kg compared to the corresponding period of 2023.
Mainly due to increase in shipments to Iran and Iraq, tea industry has also witnessed higher export despite geopolitical tensions. According to exporters’ associations, export of the brew could be in the range of 245-260 million kgs in 2024 compared with 231.69 million kgs last year.
“In the last year we were able to capture a lot of overseas markets from Sri Lankan exporters, particularly the Iraq market. And that was a real increase in 2024. 2025 also looks promising,” South India Tea Exporters Association Chairman Dipak Shah said.
Geopolitical tensions
The geopolitical tensions coupled with the disruption in key maritime routes such as the Suez Canal due to the rebel attacks did inflate the transportation cost for exporters, leading to higher commodity prices.
As per Spices Board estimates, Indian pepper
production during 2024 was at 124000 tonnes, which was higher by 8,000
tonnes compared to previous year, while 2025 crop is estimated at 77.500
tonnes.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/agri-commodities-market-hit-by-adverse-climatic-conditions-in-2024/article69064895.ece