Despite India getting a significant share in the Korean Tender for sesame seed, prices are trending downwards after the artificial hype it witnessed earlier. At the beginning of the month, the prices for all the white sesame seed varieties increased, but as the first week progressed, the costs for the white types kept plummeting.
The white Natural 99/1/1 increased from $1,44 per kg FOB to $1,45 per kg FOB then decreased to $1,44 per kg FOB to $1,42 per kg FOB before picking up again at $1,43 per kg FOB and finally reaching $1,46 per kg FOB on Tuesday, October 12.
White Natural Sortex 99.95% also had a similar trend. It closed the month of September at $1,55 per kg FOB and continued at that price on the first market day of October before going down to $1,54 per kg FOB then further down to $1,52 per kg FOB. After this, it regained on consecutive days, at $1,53 per kg FOB on October 11 and $1,56 per kg FOB on October 12.
The trend was similar for all the white hulled sesame seeds auto dry. 99.98% closed the market last month at $1,94 per kg FOB. The price for the variety increased to $1,98 per kg FOB at the beginning of the month before decreasing to $1,97 per kg FOB and then to $1,94 per kg FON on consecutive days, i.e., October 7 and 11, respectively. The price for the variety, however, increased to $1,97 per kg FOB on October 12.
Both 99.97% and 99.95% too experienced a price increase to $1,90 per kg FOB and $1,88 per kg FOB on October 12 after the price dropped to $1,87 per kg FOB and $1,86 per kg FOB, respectively on October 11.
The increase in the price was also witnessed for all the Black Sesame seed varieties, i.e., Regular Black 99.90% had a price increase from $1,69 per kg FOB to $1,95 per kg FOB. On the other hand, the super Z Black 99.95% price was improved from $2,00 per kg FOB to $2,09 per kg FOB, while Semi Z Black 99.95% price was hiked to $3,02 per kg FOB from $2,06 per kg FOB.
The price hike for Sesame seed in the market has reduced the buying activity because buyers are not interested in purchasing the products at such a high price, mainly when both Myanmar and Pakistan offer sesame seed at quite a lower price than India.
Myanmar’s sesame seed was reported to be selling at least $0.08 per kg – $0.09 per kg lower than the Indian sesame seed. Pakistan, too, is selling their white sesame seed at a lower price than India. It has been reported Pakistan’s white sesame seed is down by $75 to $100 per MT. Since this is an unusual development, as Pakistan’s sesame seed is down by so much, many Indian traders are considering importing white Sesame seed from neighbouring countries.
Also, more bags have arrived than expected, amidst less demand for sesame seed in the local markets and among the domestic buyers. Approximately 1000 bags arrived, which has also impacted the Sesame seed price in the domestic market.
According to the market experts, the hype created in the market due to assumptions and India getting the Tender from Korea failed to sustain as other expected trades and dealings were unable to occur.
This is becoming a concern for Sesame seed farmers and traders. It was expected that the festival season would increase the demand hence the price, but the activity seems stagnant. If analysts are to be believed without the increase in the domestic and international market for the sesame seeds, the bullish mode will continue, where both white and the black variety can go down by $0.01 to $0.04 per kg.
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