AGAIN ? - Supply Chain Management Crisis coming back ?

Swiss-based MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, the world's largest container shipping company, will stop using the Suez Canal after an attack on one of its ships, it said in a statement Saturday.

Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi movement has in recent weeks been attacking vessels in the Red Sea — a crucial route allowing East-West trade, especially oil, to use the Suez Canal to avoid the extra time and expense of circumnavigating Africa.

The Liberian-flagged MSC Palatium III was attacked on Friday with a drone in the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, according to the Houthis.

The MAERSK shipping line the second largest shipping line from Denmark and the Hapag-Lyod, the german  shipping company also stopping their container vessels through the Suez canal passage.

Means we can expect huge delay in shipping to and from Europe. This can increase the freight cost also. This will affect the income for Egypt as the big fee they are collecting from each container ships.

Soaring demand and falling yields propel large cardamom price to double

 

Nepali traders expect the spice to break price records in the upcoming months.

Large cardamom prices have more than doubled in the last six months due to a sharp drop in production and growing international appetite for the prized spice.

Traders say that the price of large cardamom, one of the most expensive spices in the world, is heading upward. If the current trend continues, it is expected to break the price record in the coming months, traders say.

This week, the price of the spice reached Rs1,875 per kg in the market in Birtamod, Jhapa. It was at Rs925 per kg in June.

Khem Adhikari, a trader in Phidim of Panchthar, the eastern hill district, said that high-quality large cardamom is being traded at Rs1,875 per kg, while medium-quality spice is fetching Rs1,825 per kg.

The normal quality is being traded at Rs1,800 per kg.

Large cardamom is grown mainly in the eastern hills of Nepal, and Birtamod of Jhapa is a key trading town for the region's agricultural produce.

In 2014, large cardamom hit an all-time high of Rs2,500 per kg. Since then, prices had been going steadily downhill, sinking to a low of Rs700 per kg in mid-July.

Large cardamom is a high-value cash crop and a major source of income for farmers in the mountains and hills of eastern Nepal.

Despite the rise in prices, farmers, however, are not happy.

Madhu Raj Kurumbang, a large cardamom farmer in ward 8 of Phalelung rural municipality in Panchthar, said farmers are not getting fair prices for their produce. “Prices of the spice normally increase after farmers sell them.”

Large cardamom is harvested from mid-August to mid-November. At the start of the season this year, the spice was being traded at Rs1,250 per kg, according to the Federation of Large Cardamom Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal.

“The price of large cardamom has been soaring due to the decline in production in all three countries—Nepal, India and Bhutan,” said Nirmal Bhattarai, president of Large Cardamom Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal.

He said that Nepal’s large cardamom output has dropped by 60 percent year-on-year due to drought and pest problems.

“We expect that the price will reach Rs2,000 per kg within a few weeks.”

“There is a high demand in the international market following the low production,” said Bhattarai.

India is the biggest buyer of Nepal’s large cardamom, absorbing 99 percent of its exports. The spice is re-exported to Pakistan and the Middle East where it fetches high prices because of local preference for the Nepali product.

Pakistan is the largest importer of large cardamom, purchasing roughly 60 percent of India’s large cardamom exports. Large cardamom pods are used by the local Muslim community in biryani, a popular Pakistani dish, as a symbol of prosperity and wealth.

According to the Agriculture Ministry statistics, Nepal produced over 10,000 tonnes of large cardamom in the last fiscal year. In 2019-20, output was 9,545 tonnes, which dropped to 8,289 tonnes in 2020-21. In 2021-22, production rose slightly to 8,714 tonnes.

Nepal is the largest producer of large cardamom, accounting for 68 percent of the global production, followed by India and Bhutan.

Elsewhere in the region, the spice is grown in Sikkim, Darjeeling and Bhutan. Large cardamom was introduced in Ilam from Sikkim in 1865.

Ilam, Panchthar, Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Tehrathum, Bhojpur and Dhankuta districts are the major large cardamom-producing districts in Nepal.

Deepak Nepal, a large cardamom trader, said apart from India, demand from Bangladesh has been growing lately.

Nepali traders were also making efforts to export large cardamom to Bangladesh directly through the Kakarbhitta-Panitanki-Phulbari route. The three points are located in Nepal, India and the India-Bangladesh border respectively.

The 44-km route provides the shortest access to the Bangladeshi border point of Banglabandha for Nepal's trade with and through Bangladesh.

The large cardamom export increased by 71.94 percent year-on-year in the last fiscal year.

According to the Department of Customs, Nepal exported 9,990 tonnes of large cardamom worth Rs8.27 billion in the last fiscal year compared to 5,367 tonnes worth Rs4.81 billion in 2021-22.

Nepali large cardamom or black cardamom has a distinct flavour profile due to a specific method of postharvest drying in bhattis (ovens), which explains the roasted smell and taste.

The smoky flavour would overwhelm a sweet cake or pudding, but in a spice rub for roasted meat or a full-flavoured stew, it imparts a smouldering depth no other spice can, according to experts.

Laxmi Gautam

Published at : December 13, 2023

https://kathmandupost.com/money/2023/12/13/soaring-demand-and-falling-yields-propel-large-cardamom-price-to-double

BLACK CARDAMOM X GREEN CARDAMOM

 

The Differences between Cardamom Varieties

Cardamom is the third most expensive spice in the world, after saffron and vanilla. You can find two main varieties of cardamom that are grown in different parts of the world. Cardamoms are one of the most commonly used spices in Indian cooking,
It's all over India - in our masala chai and garam masala, and most Indian desserts. They are also used in many other cuisines like Middle Eastern, Moroccan, and Scandinavian.

Green cardamom is grown in India, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka. This variety has a sweet taste with a hint of lemon flavor.

Black cardamom often goes by the name brown cardamom or large-sized cardamom. It's a type of cardamom that originates in Eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling district in India. This variety has a a wonderful scent of smokiness and camphor.

What is a Cardamom Pod And How Does it Taste?

A cardamom pod is a spice that is obtained from the cardamom plant and it has a very distinct taste. It is used in many different cuisines and dishes around the world. The pods are picked when they are still green and then dried to make them brown.

The pods can be used whole or ground up for various purposes such as flavoring curries, gingerbread, coffee, tea, cakes, cookies etc. Cardamom pods can also be used to make tea by boiling water with the pods in it.

Processing

While the green cardamom comes from the species Elettaria cardamomum. 

The black cardamom belongs to the species Amomum subulatum. 

The main difference between these two cardamom varieties is the way they are processed. 

When it comes to green cardamom, the pods are harvested before maturity. 

The pods of black cardamom are harvested much later and are also dried over large fires.

Green cardamom is grown in India, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka. This variety has a sweet taste with a hint of lemon flavor. 

Black cardamom often goes by the name brown cardamom or large-sized cardamom. 

It's a type of cardamom that originates in Eastern Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling district in India..

Brazil - Award-winning coffee sells for record price at auction

 

Japanese coffee shop buys Geisha coffee, from Fazenda Rainha, for R$84,500 (U$ 17,175 ) per bag

By Isadora Camargo — São Paulo

12/13/2023 05:03 Updated 5 hours ago

Geisha coffee, from Fazenda Rainha, from Orfeu Cafés, in São Sebastião da Grama (SP), was sold for R$84,500 per 60-kilo bag to the Japanese Sarutahiko Coffee, in the auction of the winning coffees of the Cup of Excellence 2023 The amount paid was the highest in history for a Brazilian dry coffee. The Japanese company won three bags.

The Geisha batch was the winner of the dry category of the competition, which is organized by the Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) in partnership with the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil) and the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE). Another 29 samples awarded in the Cup of Excellence participated in the auction on the 6th.

Japan is among the top ten buyers of Brazilian coffee, with 2.07 million bags between January and November this year, according to Cecafé.

The president of Orfeu, Ricardo Madureira, attributed the value achieved at the auction to the quality of the Geisha type and the dry method. “It is more difficult to achieve high quality in the dry process, because the grain is not washed after harvest. This requires getting the coffee collection right. By drying in the plant, the sugar from the pulp passes into the grain and produces a sweeter drink”, explained the executive.

Being more than 1,500 meters above sea level, coffee requires regenerative care, such as cover crops. The farm also maintains 35% of the native forest in the coffee plantation. “All of this increased the price of coffee at auction,” he said.

The auction raised R$1.5 million, after almost nine hours and three thousand bids. The value was reflected in the average price of the lots, which reached R$ 13 thousand per bag.

The second highest bid was given to wet coffee (peeled, pulped or demucilated cherry) from Fazenda Rio Verde, owned by Ipanema Agrícola, located in Conceição do Rio Verde (MG). The bag was purchased for R$40,700 by Grupo Cafeza, from Brazil.

The third highest bid was for fermented coffee from the same property, which reached R$32,700 per bag. The batch was acquired by the Chinese Decameron Coffee.

Companies from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Bulgaria, South Korea, the United States and Norway also purchased coffees, which Madureira considers a foreign 'awakening' of Brazilian beans. For him, acclaim helps transform internal consumption, generating a ritual similar to wine tasting.

Aware of changes in consumption, Orfeu wants to increase its participation in the specialty coffee segment, launching product lines in Brazilian retail.

The company's president revealed that, in 2024, a special edition of the batch purchased by Japan will be prepared for sale. The brand also started selling three new types of coffee in premium supermarkets (acauã, arara and japi) as part of its growth strategy, projected at 30% for 2024.FF

Café premiado é vendido por preço recorde em leilão (globo.com)

Quick highlight spices market update 11th December 2023 – Week 49.

 

 

The price of pepper has increased by 4% compared to last week. This means that the price of black pepper has increased by 14.5% since the beginning of November, despite the fact that the largest consumer of Vietnamese pepper, China, has not made any purchases for over a month. The main reason is the dwindling stock levels in the last months of the year, while the main harvest of 2024 is still over 2 months away.

BRAZIL Black Pepper December 2023

Brazilian black pepper prices are on the rise in recent weeks, due to the lack of stock and since Brazilian farmers are not willing to sell what's remaining of their product in lieu of the severe drought in growing regions. 

The harvest in Para state in Brazil has just finished. The region is currently enduringa drought, with the most significant impact anticipated for the 2024 crop.

Brazil exported 58,000 MT, 4% down from the last year.
Volumes partly shifted from the US and EU to Africa and Asia.
Excess rain in Dec-Feb hurt the Espirito Santo (ES) crop, while Para, where the harvest has just finished, is now suffering from a drought linked to El Niño. 

Finnaly since the last weekend prices exploded and the local market is very volatile, with prices changingby hour, making impossible long lasting firm offers.

Cardamom - Guatemalan crop is expected to be 35% shorter than last crop

December 6, 2023

Guatemalan crop is expected to be 35% shorter than last crop, due to severe dry weather which has damaged the crop. Arrivals have started during November, so about 1.5 months late. Arrival volumes are increasing, but are still well below normal levels. Because of the above, prices have strongly increased vs last crop.