Last week, the market remained fair for most commodities amidst good demand and the upcoming Diwali festival.
Cumin seeds, Coriander seeds, Turmeric, Black Pepper, Sesame, and Fenugreek Crops recorded a price increase and bullish trend. All these crops have experienced reasonable domestic demands, and with the relaxation of the COVID-19 lockdown, export demands are also increasing.
For example, Cumin seeds had good domestic demand due to the upcoming festival and even the export market. This resulted in the spice having two consecutive days of a price increase this week for all its varieties. Cumin A Grade 99% Pure closed the market at $2,08 per kg FOB from this week’s lowest of $2,03 per kg FOB. Cumin A Grade 98% Pure ascended to $2,00 per kg FOB from $1,96 per kg FOB, while Cumin FAQ 99% Pure and Cumin FAQ 98% Pure traded at $1,98 per kg FOB from $1,95 per kg FOB and $1,95 per kg FOB from $1,92 per kg FOB, respectively.
Coriander kept with the price increase because of the domestic demand, but the overall trend became bearish during the week due to a lack of demand for spice from the south Indian market. However, the price has increased slightly with the increase in local demand due to the festival and the demand rising from Bihar, Bengal, and the mills. On October 26 all the varieties’ price increased, with Coriander Eagle 5% Split at $1,09 per kg FOB from $1,08 per kg FOB and Coriander Eagle 100% Split trending at $1,06 per kg FOB from $1,05 per kg FOB. The situation was the same for Coriander Single Parrot, which closed at #1,31 per kg FOB from $1,30 per kg FOB, and Coriander Double Parrot moved up from $1,45 per kg FOB to $1,46 per kg FOB.
Turmeric traded well due to good demand, but the prices are expected to go under with higher crop production. As a result, the spice had two price hikes this week, i.e., October 25 and 27. The final price at which the market closed for Turmeric Finger (Salem, Double Polished) (No.1) was $1,14 per kg FOB, Turmeric Finger (Nizamabad, Double Polished) (Dubai Quality) trended at $1,03 per kg FOB. In contrast, Turmeric Finger (Nizamabad, Double Polished) (Europe Quality) was $1,08 per kg FOB.
The Black Pepper market is in the appreciative mode with increased domestic and export demand for the spice. With the decreased crop production in Vietnam, India is expected to do well, and the bullish trend will continue. This week the price increased for 500GL from $5,40 per kg FOB to $ 5,75 per kg FOB.
The sesame seed market experienced lower crop arrival amidst good demand, which pushed the commodity to a bullish orbit. The need for the seeds in the export market has also increased, and since new crop arrival hasn’t started yet, the upward price supports the traders. As a result, most of the varieties experienced a price increase every day this week. White Natural 99/1/1 traded at $1,51per kg from this month’s lowest at $1,42 per kg FOB. White Natural Sortex 99.95% trended at $1,61 after experiencing $1,52 per kg FOB, the weakest of the month. All the White Hulled Sesame Seeds Auto Dry varieties, i.e., 99.98%, 99.97%, and 99.95%, increased and closed the market at $2,02 per kg FOB, $ 2,03 per kg FOB, and $2,09 per kg FOB, respectively. The trend was the same for the Black categories, too and the price for Regular Black 99.90% recorded $2,20 per kg FOB and Super Z Black 99.95% traded at $2,35 per kg FOB.
Similarly, both varieties of Fenugreek, i.e., Fenugreek FAQ Machine Clean and Fenugreek Sortex, ended the month at $1,00 per kg FOB and $1,05 per kg FOB. Only a few crops like Peanut, Cardamom, Red Chilli, Nigella, few varieties of Fennel and Mustard experienced a price drop.
The peanut prices witnessed a mixed trend this week, with Bold variety getting down while Java prices increased. However, the peanut prices are becoming a concern for the farmers and traders as the price drop has started. With increased production and lesser demand for the crop in China, a downward trend is expected. The only possible reason which can give a ray of hope to the traders and farmers of Peanut is the decrease of Peanut in the global market from Sudan and importers looking towards India to fulfil the demand. Bold 40-50, 50-60 and 60-70 prices decreased from $1,19 per kg FOB to $1,18 per kg FOB, $1,17 per kg FOB to $1,16 per kg FOB and $1,23 per kg FOB to $1,12 per kg FOB, respectively.
Java variety 50-60, 60-70 and 70-80 traded at an improved price after it increased to $1,33 per kg FOB from $1,30 per kg FOB, $1,31 per kg FOB from $1,26 per kg FOB and $1,28 per kg FOB from $1,23 per kg FOB, respectively.
Like Peanut, the other crop that experienced a mixed trend this week was Fennel. While A Grade 99% and A Grade 98% had a southward movement at $1,53 per kg FOB from two consecutive day’s increase to $1,62 per kg FOB and $1,19 per kg FOB from $1,29 per kg FOB, respectively. Whereas FAQ 99% and FAQ 98% had three consecutive days of price hikes that reached $1,27 per kg FOB and $1,18 per kg FOB, respectively.
All the varieties of Green Cardamom had a downward trend on October 26 after the prices decreased the week before. On October 26, Green cardamom 8mm declined to the new low of the last two months at $19,60 per kg FOB from $20,20 per kg FOB. Green Cardamom 7.5 mm was traded at $16,75 per kg FOB, which fell from $16,75 per kg FOB and was the lowest for the variety for September and October. Green Cardamom 7.2 mm price slumped from $16,34 per kg FOB to $15,80 per kg FOB this week of October. Green Cardamom 7 mm closed the market at the lowest price for September and October at $15,37 per kg FOB from $15,67 per kg FOB. Similarly, Green Cardamom 6.5 mm -6.8 mm witnessed the new low at $14,99 per kg FOB from $15,33 per kg FOB on the last week of October. However, traders believe that the price will improve in the coming days as Kerala expects heavy rain, and spice supply will decrease.
The main reason for the price going bearish for Red Chilli is the lack of demand for the spice. As expected, the price drop for the Teja variety impacted the other types of chillies in the market. Reports suggest that the crop arrival is more than its demand. Similarly, Warrangal witnesses higher stock availability than its demand, and pressure is mounting on the prices. On October 27, the Red Chilli s4 stemless price dropped from $2,02 per kg FOB to $2,01 per kg FOB.
The market was not good for the two categories of Nigella, with Nigella Machine Clean trading at $2,89 per kg FOB from $2,93 per kg FOB, while Sortex quality decreased from $2,98 to $2,94 per kg FOB. As a result, Nigella varieties had two price drops this week.
Both brown and yellow varieties of mustard had a slump in their prices on October 26. Brown Mustard Seeds Micro Machine Clean fell from $1,194 to $1,18 per kg FOB. The variety experienced two consecutive days of the price drop. Brown Mustard Seeds Bold Machine Clean decreased from $1,13 to $1,12 per kg FOB. Yellow Mustard Seeds Micro Machine Clean trended at $1,23 per kg FOB from $1,24 per kg FOB, and Yellow Mustard Seeds Bold Machine Clean closed the market at $1,390 per kg FOB after it descended from $1,397 per kg FOB.
Commodities that remained at the same price this week were Chickpeas, where 42-44 (12MM) was $1,29 per kg FOB, 44-46 (11MM) was $1,27 per kg FOB, 46-48 (10MM) was $1,25 per kg FOB, 58-60 (9MM) was $1,23 per kg FOB, and both 58-60 (9MM) and 62-64 trended at $1,19 per kg FOB.
Both raisin and cashew nuts, too, remained steady in the market with all their varieties this week.
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