The small cardamom continued to show an easier trend on bearish sentiments at auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Arrivals were at moderately higher levels while the demand has weakened.

Buyers are anticipating arrival of the new crop by the middle of June following good rains in the cardamom growing tracts.

Hence, they have slowed down, only those having immediate commitments were buying, P C Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC told Business Line .

Meanwhile, a dealer in Bodinayalannur Ranganathan said that "for good colour bold capsules demand existed but availability of the material is very much limited".

Quality of the cardamom arriving at present is inferior and that phenomenon is also aiding the price fall, he said.

At the CPA auction held in Bodinayakannur total 9.4 tonnes of cardamom arrived of this 6.9 tonnes were traded. Maximum price stood at ₹973 a kg. The auction average fell to ₹807.54 a kg from 877.95 a kg the previous Monday.

Arrivals last week were at 428 tonnes as against 464 tonnes the previous week.

The individual auction average declined last week to ₹904.33 a kg from 941.41 a kg the previous week.

Total arrivals during the current season up to May 20, 2017 were at 17,558 tonnes and the sales were at 16,709 tonnes.

Individual auction average for the season as on May 20 was at ₹1,123.20 a kg.

Prices at Bodinayakannur, were in ₹/kg : 8mm bold 1,200 - 1,250; 7 -8mm 1,100-1,150; 6-7mm 900-950 ; below 6 mm 850. Medium bulk was fetching Rs850-900 a kg.

The weather conditions remained favourable with good summer rains in the cardamom growing tracts in the Idukki district of Kerala where the aromatic spice is mostly grown in the country.

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