Indian Spices Market Report- January 2020

• Early sown, rain touched and inferior quality chilies have begun to arrive in markets
• Prices across markets remain firm, mainly due to an empty pipeline, arrival delays and quality issues
• Guntur stock has come down approximately 12K MT with low cold stocks across major trading centers
• Crop is at peak flowering stage and looks better across major growing areas in AP and Karnataka
• Incidence of pests and disease can be seen in some parts of Telangana. Continuous rains during September and October have impacted the vegetative growth of late planted crop
• MP crop started flowing into the market. Crop yield and quality is bad due to erratic climatic conditions and virus infestation

Chilies in fruiting stage vs. Chilies with rain damage

• Likely to be a firm market until mid-January
• There are chances of cooling price levels upon increase in harvest arrivals

• Arrival flow vs. demand
• Weather conditions and stokist activity

Price Trend of Major Varieties (1 USD = INR 71.00)

• Low arrivals across markets with more quality issues
• New crop arrivals are very limited in Nizamabad and Gundelpet as a result of high moisture issues
• Major crop flow will start reaching the primary markets by the end of February
• Overall standing crop remains healthy across origins with better yield expectations, aside from some damage and expected yield loss in some growing regions of Telangana and Sangli due to the flood in October
• Harvest activities are starting slowly in Telangana and South Karnataka
• Turmeric prices were supported during the end of December, due to MSP declaration by the AP gov’t. This led to speculative activities on the electronic platform

MFT Polished Price Trend (1 USD = INR 71.00)

• Expected to be range bound for near term
• Likely to get favorable buying support on any further dips for new quality stock

• The timing and intensity of new crop arrivals
• Climatic condition, stockist activities and demand
• MSP implementation method and other state gov’t policies

220 days old tumeric field in Basmath, India

• Sowing has been delayed by 2 - 3 weeks due to unseasonal rains in growing regions
• Acreage so far is higher compared to last year
• Overall water availability in growing regions is sufficient
• There was a locust attack in several villages of West Rajasthan leading to crop damage
• Conventional quality prices remained stable last month as sowing progressed well in key growing regions
• EU pesticide compliant quality prices firmed up due to lesser availability

Price Trend 2017 Onwards INR/MT 1 USD = INR 71.00)