Pepper Prices Soften as a Result of Low Demand & Limited Upcountry Buying

Restricted shopping combined with low demand in upcountry markets, has pushed pepper prices down. Costs have dropped by 14 per kg in the previous two weeks. On the Kochi terminal market, pepper prices are now 502 for ungarbled varieties and 522 for garbled varieties.

The farming community attributed the price drop to reduced purchasing by major consumers, such as masala producers, as a result of the economic downturn. Sellers in the primary market want to sell the commodity in order to settle their monetary commitments earlier than March 31 in order to take advantage of interest concessions.

This has resulted in increased availability of bodily pepper on the spot market, which has also contributed to the drop in pepper spot costs.

Furthermore, increased marketing pressure from Karnataka growers and planters has enabled sellers in the state to offer lower prices. This has also resulted in lower prices in major consumer markets.

Kishor Shamji, co-ordinator of the Indian Pepper and Spice Merchants, Growers, Planters Consortium – Kerala chapter, claimed that there was increased availability of Vietnam pepper in consuming markets such as Delhi and Kanpur ICD because the commodity was brought into the country disguised as scrap high-value automotive elements. This has also had an effect on the housing market's prices.

Nonetheless, he anticipates that prices will begin to rise in April, as consumers are expected to return ahead to cover previously postponed necessities.

When asked if domestic growers were anticipating increased arrivals of Sri Lankan pepper due to the island nation's disaster, Shamji stated imports will be lower in April because the island nation's current harvest season is over and begins in May. Sri Lankan pepper prices are currently ruling at $6,100 per tonne, but the country is unwilling to sell, according to Shamji.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Kerala MPs and farmer organizations has submitted a diagram to the federal government illustrating the difficulty of the minimum import value on pepper in order to protect Indian pepper farmers.

Stay Tuned with Krishi Jagran for more Agri News!!