Red Chilli: Touched Three-Year’s Highest Price in Current Season

Mintec Global
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This seasonless production and good international demand helped chilli prices to reach a three-year high, by July end and witnessed the price of 3,20$ per kg in the domestic market. Unseasonal rains in October-November last year and subsequent pest attacks severely damaged the yield at many places. By August it remained stable and in the beginning of September, a minor slowdown was witnessed by the market.

The arrival and price of red chillies in major producing states have remained in a limited range as farmers have been storing the harvested red chilli in cold storage. However, traders believe that due to the coming crop of Madhya Pradesh, the slowdown of red chillies may continue in the coming days.

There are reports of good monsoon rains this time in the leading red chilli-producing states of the country like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. There is no fear of any significant damage to the crop due to occasional rain and sometimes sunshine. Usually, the cultivation of red chilli begins in August and harvesting at the end of December. The crop was damaged 50 to 60 percent due to heavy rains at the end of last year. Pests caused early shedding of flowers, which also impacted the yield,” said, a farmer from Nellore.

The sale of red chillies among farmers has remained relatively sluggish after the recent upsurge. Domestic traders informed that the arrival of red chillies in Guntur was reported to have reduced to about 40-45 thousand sacks.

Ironically, from the beginning of the season to date, there were reports of red chilli prices remaining firm in other big mandis including Guntur even after the farmers increased their selling.

Exporters’ buying has been less in the previous couple of months due to higher-than-normal prices. Before the start of the new crop in Madhya Pradesh, the volatility was high, but now it is expected to go down in the near future.

The chilli dried long red stemless prices were recorded at $2,69 per kg FOB.