Low arrivals pushed up turmeric on Monday.

“Unexpectedly, the arrival of both varieties decreased to 7,350 bags (in total) on Monday. After a holiday of five days, every one expected that the arrival will rise to over 10,000 bags. The finger variety showed an increase of Rs 200 a quintal, while the root variety rose by Rs 700 a quintal. The sales were also encouraging,” said R.K.V. Ravishankar, President, Erode Turmeric Merchants Association.

He said some exporters had received good orders from Punjab and Delhi for the root variety. So they quoted increased price not only for fulfilling the orders, but also for the good quality. They quoted Rs 700 a quintal more than last week. More than 1,500 bags of the root variety were sold for the increased price. He added that exporters and other traders would get new orders from North India within a week at the same price, give or take Rs 100. Exporters said that Punjab merchants had already obtained orders from Pakistan for the gatta (root) variety, so they placed orders with Erode merchants. On Monday, 80 per cent of the arrivals was sold, of which half was bought by stockists.

Because of the arrival of the super fine variety of Salem hybrid turmeric, its price increased to Rs 7,585 a quintal.

At the Erode Turmeric Merchants Association sales yard, the finger variety was sold at Rs 3,836-6,845 a quintal, the root variety at Rs 3,232-6,265 a quintal.

Salem Hybrid Crop: The finger variety fetched Rs 6,455-7,585 a quintal and the root variety Rs 6,265-6,899 a quintal. Of the 721 bags that arrived, 549 were sold.

At the Regulated Marketing Committee, the finger variety was sold at Rs 6,566-7,099 a quintal, the root variety at Rs 6,143-6,696 a quintal. Of the 661 bags that arrived, 655 were sold.

At the Erode Cooperative marketing Society, the finger variety was sold at Rs 5,960-6,877 a quintal, the root variety at Rs 5,389-6,799 a quintal. All the 1,098 bags that arrived for sales were sold.

At the Gobichettipalayam Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Society, the finger variety was sold at Rs 5,011-7,000 a quintal, the root variety at Rs 4,911-6,379 a quintal. All the 38 bags kept for sales were sold.