Upturn in Indonesian cloves price reflects global firmness

 

INTERNATIONAL cloves prices have held mostly firm in recent weeks as farmers at origin remain reluctant to lower their pricing ambitions and exporters appear confident of maintaining demand at high levels.

Indonesian cloves prices had moved particularly high, being above $10,000 a tonne cif.

“Our agent in Surabaya says that now that the crop is almost done, stocks are in the hand of farmers and they are not ready to give cloves at low prices especially knowing that kretek manufacturers are on the market looking forward to receiving what they have ordered already,” he said.

Mr Nee added that contrary to buyers’ hopes for lower prices, Indonesian farmers were speculating and pushing traders to pay a higher price on a daily basis. “They all know that the crop is sold to industries already and also that the next crop could be much lower than this one due to very dry weather in Indonesia when cloves (stems) should be starting to come on trees,” he remarked.

Hence, Mr Nee said he was not overly confident of the possibility for a price decrease.

Gregoire Courme, head of the spice trade department at Herbs International Service, commented: “The prices are still high, because the Indonesian market is firmer after the Ramadan. The current prices are between $10,500 to $11,000 a tonne fob.”

Mr Courme added that some local traders had sold short at levels of around $8,500 a tonne to cigarette firms before Ramadan, anticipating a fall during the festival. “Unfortunately the farmers did not deliver the goods and the cigarette manufacturers put the pressure on the sellers to get their contracts. So the local market is high now and the traders are running the market to find cloves. Moreover, the latest figures show that the crop is from 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes and not above 80,000 tonnes as initially predicted,” he said.

Mr Nee explained that in Comoros a lot of buyers had been visiting from Pakistan, the Middle East and China. These individuals would purchase “one or two boxes” of cloves and then leave the country, leaving scope for others to visit and take similar coverage.

Currently there were at least 16 buyers in Mutsamudu compared with only four recently. “Over this, the crop is much shorter than expected, maybe only 2,000 tonnes,” Mr Nee said.

As a result, Comoros cloves prices looked unlikely to decrease and the domestic market was holding firm.

Mr Nee said Comoros was offering at $9,400 a tonne cif Singapore, $9,950 a tonne cif US and €7,750 ($9,748) a tonne cif main European ports.

Mr Courme said that he could not find any sellers of Comoros cloves offering competitive prices.

He added that in Madagascar old crop prices had decreased a little bit since the end of July and were now around $9,700 a tonne c&f Europe.

Mr Nee viewed Madagascar old crop offers as still being “rather high” and he was advising extra care in making sure purchases were of a suitable quality.

The country has been pegged to have a favourable 2012 crop of between 8,000 and 9,000 tonnes. Harvesting was expected to start in mid-October for shipment in November.

Mr Nee said that as yet there was no idea of what the opening prices would be, but based on current offers it was doubtful there would be a large cut in Madagascar cloves prices ahead, he claimed.

Contacts in Brazil had indicated they were expecting new crop prices in the South American country to open around $9 and $10 a kg fob.

https://www.spicefactors.com/upturn-in-indonesian-cloves-price-reflects-global-firmness/

The various changes of Brazilian Black Pepper Trade

For the second year in a row Vietnam became the biggest importer of brazilian black pepper, overcoming traditional destinations like USA and also Germany.

USA has been the leading importer of brazilian black pepper since the beginning of the century.

Big changes happened after COVID-19 pandemia and actually during the last 10 years, starting with the production area in Brazil that developed a new very active production zone in the central-east (south of Bahia state and Espirito Santo state).Brazilian exports that were around 30k - 40 k tons per year from 2000 to 2015, rised to 91,000 ton in 2021.

Prices this week range between 3350 -3500 FOB.

The chart below show Brazilian Exports per destination from 2018 to 2023 elaborated by Coreimex. 

Prices this week range between 3350 -3500 FOB

If interested ask for a firm offer  peppertrade@olcom.com.br

Vietnam pepper market update 28th August 2023 – Week 34

  

August 28, 2023
Likely that Vietnam's pepper exports in the first 8 months of the year will reach around 183-185,000 tons. If the forecasted annual pepper production for 2023 is around 190-200,000 tons, it is certain that the inventory from previous years will be used for exports until the next harvest in 2024, which is still 5-6 months away.

It is predicted that this situation will lead to a less pepper raw material trading in the market in the fourth quarter, as the inventory from previous years is still held by farmers, traders, and export companies with a strong financial foundation and relatively high prices.

 

Please see the REPORT FILE & FULL QUOTATION LIST by click to download.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Fw1NvO3DkoV2i_JwHFhPaXJOi9iEkLDX/view?usp=sharing

 

PEPPER MARKET IN VIETNA, 24-Aug-2023

 

- In coming time, world pepper market will increase due to reduced supply (low price, low yield due to many old trees, reduced interest in farming due to other more efficient crops such as durian, weather influence, domestic consumption), increased demand from US and China (improved logistics, facilitating trade and transporation, China’s pepper import from Vietnam increased nearly 7 times from Jan-Jul/23 over same period in 2022).

- Currently there is not much supply in Vietnam. The current inventory is about 60-80k tons, next harvest is expected to be 140-150k tons, a significant decrease compared to last year. Indonesia, pepper in 2022 is down 22% compared to 2021, is expected to continue to decrease by 15% in 2023. In India, the main pepper growing areas are affected by weather, causing production to decrease 30-32% while domestic demand increases dramatically as the festival season approaches.

- Demand is likely to exceed supply, pushing prices up to unprecedented heights.

If you have any interest of pepper or other agricultural products, pls comment to send you our best price. Mr Vo - TPH

Scanty rainfall hits cardamom production, prices set to spiral to record levels

 

As prices of cardamom rise, India is in danger of losing its export markets to the cheaper Guatemalan cardamom. Even the upcoming festive season may not help its cause as higher prices may impact the price-sensitive domestic market as well.

AUGUST 16, 2023

Cardamom prices are spiraling to record levels as severely deficient rainfall wreaks havoc in Idukki district in Kerala, where most of the country’s cardamom is grown.

The average prices have doubled to around Rs 2,000 per kg from a couple of months ago. The maximum price for the premium quality has jumped to about Rs 3,000 per kg. It is reminiscent of the situation four years ago when average prices crossed Rs 4,000 per kg and the maximum price escalated to Rs 7,000 per kg when the south-west monsoon rains played truant.

Rainfall is said to be short by 30 to 50 percent so far in different parts of Idukki district, the hub of cardamom cultivation. ``The harvest began towards the end of last month and the production looks to be 30 to 40 percent short because of poor rainfall from June. If it rains towards the end of this month or in September, we may get some good crop by December, but the current damage cannot be set right,’’ said K K Saseendra Babu, MD of Vandanmedu Green Gold Cardamom Producer Co. Ltd.

He reckons that the total cardamom production in the country could drop to around 15,000 tonnes from 25,000 tonnes last year. Lower carryover stock has also contributed to the price rally.

At present consumption is weak and given the current prices it remains to be seen whether it will pick up with the onset of festival season after September. The maximum domestic sale usually happens during the Durga pooja-Diwali season. Subdued demand may limit the rise of cardamom prices till the festival season begins.

`The pattern of consumption has changed after the Covid pandemic. The market has become price sensitive, and the demand is for cheaper, lower quality cardamom. The total annual domestic consumption could have fallen to 25,000 tonnes from around 35,000 tonnes,’’ Babu said.

Though the prices are at remunerative levels for the growers, they cannot take advantage of it as most of them are left with hardly any stock. Since the prices hit record levels in 2019, cardamom cultivation has spread to more areas in Idukki district as well as in Tamil Nadu. The curry masala makers, who go for bulk quantities, bought some quantity when it was cheaper.

In the last three years cardamom prices have been averaging around Rs 1,000 per kg. Given the rise in the production cost, the growers can reap benefits only if the prices go above Rs 1,200 per kg.

``Apart from the decline in consumption there is also the risk of Guatemalan cardamom entering the Indian market towards the end of the year, which could impact domestic prices’’ pointed out P C Punnoose, CEO of Kerala Cardamom Processing & Marketing Co. Ltd. Gautemala is the biggest cardamom producer in the world and last year the country’s production was higher at around 45,000 tonnes, which helped it to dominate the export market.

Guatemalan harvest usually begins around October.

India’s export of cardamom too declined last year owing to the onslaught of Guatemalan cardamom. Cardamom exports in 2022-23 showed a 30 percent slump in quantity to 7,352 tonnes and a 36 percent drop in earnings year-on-year to Rs 875 crore. In 2021-22, cardamom export had reached a new peak of 10,572 tonnes valued at Rs 1,375 crore.

Importers in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are asking why India has suddenly increased the price. The prices are around $ 31 per kg. Even at $19 per kg earlier, we were not finding too many takers in the world market,’’ said Nithyanandan, partner of SPG Ramaswamy Nadar and Sons, a leading exporter.

Once Guatemala enters the world market after October, it will be able to sell at a cheaper rate than India. Thus, India could end up losing the Gulf market, the largest buyers of cardamom, to Guatemala.

Further, failure of monsoon rains could push cardamom prices to a higher level, hitting both domestic consumption and export.

PK KRISHNAKUMAR is a journalist based in Kochi.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/agriculture/scanty-rainfall-hits-cardamom-production-prices-set-to-spiral-to-record-levels-11197301.html

Black Pepper - Brazil Pricing Overview

Week 33/2023

Brazil Pepper started at lows of BRL 11/kg for raw about $2550-2750 FOB range beginning this year, heading firm towards Q2 until it reached its expected weak spot beginning Q3 - the harvesting season.
All attention is with Brazil with demand activities mostly from Asian countries.
However, price softening did not last longer as price moves further up at level BRL 14-14,50/kg – an uptrend by about 18% from beginning year, 10% higher from last year same period recorded.

Contrary to pricing movement from last year, Brazil today appears to be siding strongly to an upward trend with reports of difficulties in procuring raw material from farmers not lower than BRL 14,50/kg having more interest to keep their pepper stocks rather than to sell immediately despite earlier reports of a good crop volume this year.

Brazil Pepper April Export Brazil was able to export about 6,158 tons of pepper this July, generating about 45,294 tons for the first seven (7) months of the year which is almost similar volume from last year same period recorded, but 6% higher if compared to same month from last year.

For the first seven (7) months of this year, the highest importer of Brazil Pepper remains to be Vietnam, having an import volume of 8,411 tons, followed by Senegal with 4,793 tons, next is Morocco contributing 4,267 tons, UAE share of 4,171 tons, India with a volume of 3,344 tons, and Pakistan at 3,024 ton.

RGT Pepper Market Report – Week 33 /2023 Royal Golden Trading 2023.
All Rights Reserved. Website: www.royalgoldentrading.com/ Email: Info@royalgoldentrading.co

Black pepper prices spike, likely to rise further

 

As demand outstrips supply and imports become expensive, black pepper prices have risen, prompting growers to resort to hoarding in anticipation of bigger profits. That in turn is increasing prices even more.

 PK KRISHNAKUMAR AUGUST 11, 2023 

Shrinking stock in the North Indian markets, drying up of illegal imports, hoarding and anticipated shortage in the next season due to the El Nino impact, have all pushed up black pepper prices in the country past Rs 600 per kg after a gap of several years.

The current year has seen the prices of several spices such as chilli, cumin, ginger and turmeric rally. Black pepper is the addition to the list. Black pepper prices have remained between Rs 400 and 500 per kg for some years now. Last year it spiked to over Rs 500 per kg before falling. This week, the price has climbed to Rs 625 per kg.
Pepper output in India this year, at about 64,000 tonnes, is said to be normal. The production in India has remained stagnant in the last few years but consumption has been rising annually and is much above the production level. Karnataka, followed by Kerala are the major pepper producing states. But the crop in Kerala, particularly in Idukki district, has come down with many farmers shifting to cardamom, which is more remunerative.

Higher consumption, to a certain extent, is met through imports, much of it illegal. Pepper import for use in the local market carries heavy duties ranging from 50 to 70 percent and a minimum import price of Rs 500 per kg from different countries such as Vietnam, Brazil and Sri Lanka, where the spice is cheaper. Pepper from these countries reaches India illegally by road from Myanmar or Nepal or through misdeclaration as other goods to evade duties during shipment.

``Strict monitoring by the Centre has checked illegal imports into the country. As a result, the stock in the North Indian market has diminished. This has led to an increase in the prices,’’ said Jojan Malayil, owner of Aromatics Products.
As prices started to rise a few weeks ago, growers began to hold on to the stock, pushing the rates up further. The festival season demand after September is expected to spur the prices again in the coming months. Industry expects the prices to reach Rs 650 per kg or more.
``The rally is partly driven by sentiment as the other spices have become dearer. Pepper prices had been flat for the past several years. With low supply, it has become a seller’s market. Also, there are concerns on the impact of EL Nino on the next (year's) production. We can get a correct assessment only by October-November,’’ said Gulshan John, MD of Nedspice India.

The pepper prices in Vietnam, the largest producer, and Brazil, the next biggest grower, are around Rs 300 per kg. Since the import is duty-free against export, Indian pepper exporters have been depending on the pepper from other origins for value addition and shipment. But still the Indian consignments are comparatively high priced in the global market, causing the pepper exports to remain low in the last few years.

Indian pepper exports dropped 18 percent year-on-year in FY23 to 17,958 tonnes. Exports touched 21,863 tonnes in FY22, helped by cheaper Vietnam pepper. But a rise in the prices of Vietnam pepper since, have curbed imports to India for export.

``This year too, Vietnamese farmers are holding back produce, though their production is higher. Even the Brazilian crop is good. But there is no aggressive selling. Maybe they are anticipating an increase in prices since the excess stock purchased during the corona pandemic years by consuming countries is almost exhausted,’’ said Cherian Xavier, MD of Plant Lipids, a major spice oleoresin exporter.
As per the research reports of Nedspice, the Netherlands-based spice processing and distribution company, global pepper production in 2023 at 5,20,000 tonnes will be lower by 10,000 tonnes than the total demand. Stocks at destinations and origin will still be sufficient to meet near-term demand, though increased interest rates are not favourable to speculators and those holding large stocks, the report said.

It pegs Vietnam production at 2,05,000 tonnes, 9 percent higher than the previous year. Brazil’s production is estimated at 1,12,000 tonnes, 5.4 percent higher from a year before. India’s production and Indonesian production at 64,000 tonnes and 42,000 tonnes respectively will be slightly lower than the previous year.
According to the report, the current market situation is uncertain although the long-term price trend is likely to be up because of decreasing global production.

PK KRISHNAKUMAR is a journalist based in Kochi.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/black-pepper-prices-spike-likely-to-rise-further-11160931.html