Cardamom Price Declines On Poor Buying Support

Kochi: Cardamom prices fell at the auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu during the week for want of purchasing support. Exporters and major domestic players abstained from purchasing probably because of the high price. Auctioneers, who had started auctions early this month, are likely to continue with the auction as they believe that it would help liquidate the old stock. Very little quantity is arriving from the new crop as there is not much for harvesting, which might pick by mid-August.
At the auction held in Kumily by the Cardamom Processing and Marketing Company (CPMC), 24 tonnes of the spice arrived and 23 tonnes were sold. However, the prices fell from that of the previous auction. The average price stood at Rs 389.87 a kg. The maximum price of Rs 530 a kg was got by 8mm bold from fresh crop. Prices of other varieties were 8mm Rs 500-525, 7.5 mm Rs 450-475 and 7mm Rs 400-455 a kg. Total arrivals as on July 25 stood at 8,336 tonnes against 9,792 tonnes as on July 19, 2006 on which date the last auction of the previous season was held. The sales as on July 25 this year stood at 7,659 tonnes against 9,149 tonnes last season. The weighted average was at Rs 315.16 a kg against Rs 215.28 the previous season.