KOCHI: Spurred by the increasing trade enquiries from the major metro-markets, domestic pepper has turned hot. Prices have registered a sharp increase in the last few days supported by domestic demand.
In the past few days the domestic demand has picked up, according to local trade and industry. "The domestic demand peaks during the November to February period," said Jojan Malayil, vice chairman, All India Spice Exporters Forum. "Demand has started coming in after the Diwali festival", he said.
Pepper prices stood at Rs 137 per kg on October 20. However, it has seen an increase in the subsequent days and stood at Rs 140 per kg. On Monday, the prices saw a sharp acceleration and stood at 144 per kg. The demand for the winter season is close to 10,000 tonne to 12,000 tonne from the domestic market. The market was responding positively even at Rs 140 per kg.
Industry expects the export demand to pick in the coming weeks. The US demand has slowly started picking up, traders pointed out. The industry hopes to export close to 5,000 tonne in the coming months.
Indonesia has been offering it at $3,000 to $3,050 per tonne though the supplies are drying up there. Brazil is active in the market and is offering it at $2,850 per tonne.
Industry spokesmen said that Vietnam has offered another 3,500 to 3,700 tonne in October. The total export of Vietnam has crossed 1.15 lakh tonne, industry sources said.
Exporters hope that demand is likely to come in from traditional buyers of Indian pepper like UK and Italy. India is offering at $3,250 per tones for ASTA grade pepper. "Small quantities were being shipped out even during the past few months", said a leading exporter.
Source : The Economic Times