Farmers continue to hold on to cardamom stocks, which has reduced arrivals at auctions in the last few days. The offtake on Thursday was only 42.7 tonnes at Puttady.
Planters are unwilling to sell at reduced prices and they are expecting an average price realisation at above ₹4,000 per kg for resuming the business. Traders cited this as the reason for the reduced volumes in auctions these days.
The total volume in auctions has now come down to a range below 40,000 kg in the two trading sessions, compared with above one lakh kg reported earlier. The end of the current harvest season is also an indication of lower arrivals. The seasonal production is now only 40 per cent of the normal production of 30,000 tonnes, they said.
However, lower arrivals pushed up prices by around ₹100 per kg across all categories on Thursday. Prices settled higher, realising a combined average price of ₹3,580 a kg on an arrival of 42.7 tonnes.
In the morning session, the auctioneers SpiceMore Trading Company, Kumily offered 24.6 tonnes of 137 lots in which 24.3 tonnes realised an average price of ₹3,542.53. The highest price quoted for selected lots was ₹3,943.
In the evening session, Sugandhagiri Spices Promoters&Traders offered 18.1 tonnes of 103 lots in which 16.3 tonnes realised an average price of ₹3,617.83 per kg. The highest price quoted for selected lots was ₹4,065.
The most active cardamom March futures fell by 2.34 per cetn or ₹86.3 to ₹3,601.20 when last traded on Thursday.
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