INDIA -EXPORTS LEND AROMA TO CARDAMOM

Published on July 14, 2020

Rising trend in exports has turned out to be a saviour for cardamom, amid a waning Covid-hit domestic market.

The revival of exports to Saudi Arabia from May, after resolving the pesticide residue issues, has enabled the sector to maintain a sales momentum, after cardamom prices touched rock-bottom with an average of ₹1,069/kg when the lockdown was eased.

The rising trend in exports reflected in the auction prices which went up by ₹600, touching an average of ₹1,615 a kg, said auctioneers.

According to exporters, around 100 tonnes of cardamom valued at ₹25 crore have been shipped since May to Saudi — the single largest consumer of Indian cardamom. India shipped around 4,500 tonnes of the spice in the last three years.

However, some exporters, on condition of anonymity, told BusinessLine that shipments to Saudi have slowed down after June, following the revised Maximum Residue Limits (MRL) after prescribing an additional parameter (Dithiocarbamates) analysis (apart from the existing five parameters) for samples in cardamom shipments.

The Commerce Ministry has convened a meeting of India-Saudi Arabia Joint Working Group Meeting on July 15 to consider and share issues/challenges faced by exporters with respect to non-tariff barriers (NTB’s) from the Kingdom so that these issues can be taken up by the department during the inter-government meeting, they said.

ALSO READ  Cardamom's aroma to fade away as prices may fall 25%

Prices, production

SB Prabhakar, a planter of Pambadampara Estate in Idukki, said that there was a slow-moving cyclone by June-end in Guatemala resulting in a huge amount of rain in Coban — the main growing area in Northern Guatemala. Since the entire country is under lockdown, there could be a slowdown in exports from there. This would benefit India in the case of softening of prices.

The general perception is that there would be a better production in the ensuing harvest season by July end, said PC Punnoose of Kerala Cardamom Processing & Marketing Company.
The contributing factors for a better crop are good vegetative growth, favourable climate, the absence of a prolonged summer, intermittent summer showers and above all, the extraordinary price factor that made farmers to upkeep the plantations.

Domestic market hit

However, the fluid situation of Covid has made the things worse, impacting the domestic consumption in major consuming centres of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi and Chennai, leading to a negative consumer sentiment.

Sadasivasubramaniam, Kerala Cardamom Growers Association, voiced concern over the drop in monsoon rains in Idukki region by about 40-50 per cent in June and July, which would likely affect the next crop settings.

He also highlighted some other risk factors on the production side such as labour shortage due to the closure of the border with Theni, Tamil Nadu that impacted the labour movement affecting the timely operations in plantations.

On the next crop position, Prabhakar added that much will depend on the revival of monsoon and the quantity of rains received till August-end.


Published on July 14, 2020
---------------

V.Sajeev Kumar, Kochi, | For The HinduBusinessLine.com
------------------------------

CHECK OUR OFFERS AT https://offers-peppertrade.blogspot.com/

Moisture content drags down pepper prices in Kochi

---

June 29, 2020
Pepper prices were down by ₹2 per kg in Kochi on Monday following the availability of higher moisture content pepper due to the present climatic conditions. The prices were at ₹310/kg on an off-take of 30 tonnes.
Kishore Shamji of Kishor Spices said that there are more sellers from Wayanad and Coorg for lower bulk density pepper, which, in turn, is influencing Idukki dealers as well to reduce the price. The domestic demand continues to be steady except from cities of Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad where the demand has slowed down.
According to him, the pressure from Sri Lankan exporters for dumping their produce in India overcoming the MIP restrictions fixed by the Government is still continuing. The absence of required action from authorities have forced more importers to go ahead with such shipments, violating the rules.
IPSTA Kochi black pepper rates (₹/kg): MG1-330; ungarbled-310; 500 G/L-300.

 


V Sajeev Kumar for
thehindubusinessline.com 

CHECK OUR OFFERS AT https://offers-peppertrade.blogspot.com/
 
TODAY´S LAST : https://offers-peppertrade.blogspot.com/2020/06/vietnam-pepper-cassia-more-spices-offer.html



------------------------------- 

INDIAN PEPPER PRICES MAY MOVE UP ON GLOBAL TREND

 June 05, 2020

 China’s increased buying has pushed up the global pepper prices, especially in Vietnam and Indonesia, while the rates in India have seen only a marginal improvement. Domestic growers, who have not benefited from the global price trend are hoping to see higher realisations on the anticipated pick-up in demand with the easing of the lockdown.

Prices have registered double-digit increases in Vietnam and Indonesia over the past one month, while in India it went up by 1.8 per cent. According to the International Pepper Community, Vietnam prices rose 18.54 per cent at $2621 per tonne on June 4 from $2211 in May 4. Likewise, Indonesian prices also posted 14.12 per cent increase from $2088 to $2383. However, Indian prices witnessed only a marginal rise at 1.8 per cent from $4,354 to $4,434. “So far, the Indian growers have not really benefited from the recent global price rise. However, we are hoping that prices would move up in the next few weeks with a likely pick-up in demand from North India after the easing of lockdown,” said MC Kariappa, Chairman of Kodagu Planters Association. Farm gate prices have moved up from around ₹290-300 levels two months ago to around ₹315-317 per kg.

High production cost

Kishore Shamji, Coordinator of Indian Pepper, Spice Traders, Growers Consortium-Kerala Chapter, said the Indian prices, which is hovering above $4,000, is already on the higher side due to high domestic demand equivalent to production. The higher prices have benefited farmers, but the high production cost is posing a problem. The cost of production can be reduced by improving productivity.

India is expecting 60,000 tonnes of production as against 55,000 tonnes last year. It is the intrinsic value of Indian pepper that brought selected buyers from the US, Canada, and Europe, who have special preference for Malabar Black Pepper or Tellicherry Garbled Extra Bold or Malabar Tellicherry Special Extra Bold, he added.

“It cannot be said that the prices of low quality pepper are rising in the international market. The prices that have dropped to $1,800 are now recovering as China becomes active and starts buying as much as the US does,” Shamji said.
However, the high piperine content of Sri Lankan pepper, which is above 10 per cent, has made the commodity from the island nation a preferred choice for the spices extraction industry after paying a premium price.

Price rise in Vietnam

Prakash Namboothiri, former president of All India Spices Exporters Forum, noted that the Vietnam pepper prices have witnessed a spike due to high buying from China and other markets because of a jump in business activities in the post-Covid situation. The Indian prices are already at 50-60 per cent higher levels than Vietnam. However, there has been a decent pick-up in Indian prices in the last couple of days.
According to him, the global pepper market last week saw some fluctuations as some speculators booked profits when the price has reached the expectation. However, the price has still increased 13.4 per cent within a week from May 25 to 31. Indian prices when compared to other origins are already 50-60 per cent higher to similar grades. India needs to work on reducing the cost of production to ensure the farmers to make more profits which should be the end benefit, he said.

Rosy outlook

An expert in the pepper sector said the absence of a domestic market has forced farmers in Vietnam and Indonesia to depend on international markets for sale at cheaper prices. The market for Indian pepper is mainly dependent on domestic demand, which is always constant. Since Indian prices are on the higher side, international buyers look for low-priced pepper. The pick-up in domestic demand is also likely to result in the inflow of pepper from countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka.

However, the future of spices looks rosy as commodities such as pepper, ginger, and turmeric find application in immune therapy.




V Sajeev Kumar/Vishwanath Kulkarni Kochi/Bengaluru
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/

In India, Black pepper prices lowest in a decade

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/news/black-pepper-prices-lowest-in-a-decade/articleshow/71799047.cms

By PK Krishnakumar

Kochi: Oversupply in the global market and rising imports have pushed Indian black pepper prices to the lowest in a decade.

The prices have dipped below Rs 300 per kg. “When we take the produce to the market, we get only Rs 280 per kg,’’ said a grower, Rajendra Prasad, based in Idukki in Kerala.

When the harvest of the new crop begins in December, the prices are expected to fall further. “We will not be surprised if the prices touch Rs 200 next year,’’ Prasad said.
Burdened by high wages and declining productivity, the growers have already started moving to other crops that give better prices like cardamom.Prasad has started growing cardamom in parts of his 10-acre pepper plantation. “Against 5 kg earlier, I am getting 2 kg from a pepper vine. Though cardamom productivity will be 70 per cent of that from regular growing areas in Idukki, it offers better remuneration.’’ Cardamom is priced around Rs 2,500 per kg.

Though cardamom productivity will be 70 per cent of that from regular growing areas in Idukki, it offers better remuneration.’’ Cardamom is priced around Rs 2,500 per kg.

Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71799047.cms?utm_source=twitter_web&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialsharebuttons&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

The black pepper production in India has been stagnating between 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes in the past few years with Karnataka being the top producer followed by Kerala. Last year, heavy rains and flood led to poor output in Kerala and parts of Karnataka.

Even at this level, Indian pepper has the highest price in the global market. Pepper from major producer like Vietnam, Brazil and Indonesia are priced in the range of Rs 150 to 160 per kg while Malaysian pepper is available for around Rs 250 per kg .

As a result, there has been rising import of pepper to India flouting the minimum import price fixed by India atRs 500 per kg.

“Lots of pepper are reaching Indian shores via Mumbai, Chennai and Tuticorin ports. It is easy for the sellers to make an invoice of Rs 500 per kg to convince the Customs here,” said Jojan Malayil, CEO of Bafna Enterprises, an exporter.
This is happening despite an import duty of over 50 per cent for Asean countries. “Till October, Vietnam has exported 2.48 lakh tonnes of which includes pepper imported by the country from Indonesia and Brazil,” Malayil said.

The International Pepper Community, the inter-governmental organisation of pepper producing countries, is likely to come out with global production estimate for 2020 next month. “It will be a surplus with good carryover from the current year which will keep the prices subdued,” said Rajiv Palicha, chairman, All India Spices Exporters Forum.




Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71799047.cms