The small cardamom market witnessed an easier trend, of late, on slack demand amid increased arrivals at auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
As a result, the prices slipped by around ₹50 a kg within a week. Upcountry buyers were buying but not aggressively. Exporters have bought an estimated 40-50 tonnes. The prices, in fact, have dropped from ₹1,400 a kg to below ₹900 a kg in three months, P C Punnoose, General Manager, CPMC told Business Line .
Arrivals last week moved up to 463 tonnes from 367 tonnes the previous week.
At today's auction held by Cardamom Planters Association, Santhanpara, in Bodinayakannur 8.2 tonnes arrived and of this 6.5 tonnes were traded. Maximum price stood at ₹1,008 a kg while the average dropped to₹877.95 a kg from 962.11 a kg the previous Monday.
The individual auction average slipped last week to ₹941.41 a kg from 973.40 the previous week.
Total arrivals during the current season up to May 13, 2017 stood at 17,130 tonnes and the sales were at 16,293 tonnes.
Individual auction average for the season as on May 13 was at ₹1,129.33 a kg.
The growing regions have received good summer showers and hence the next crop is likely to hit the market by mid-June, trade sources in Kumily said.