Sri Lanka pepper is “flooded” in Indian black pepper market
With preferential tariffs under the South Asia trade agreement (SAFTA), pepper imported from Sri Lanka flooded the Indian market during the past five months.
It is estimated that since the beginning of 2017, more than 11,000 tonnes of pepper imported from Sri Lanka have reduced prices of the Indian pepper market price; especially in recent months, according to trade sources – Business Line.
While South Asian Trade Agreement (SAFTA) agreed to allow only 5,000 tons of pepper from Sri Lanka to be imported; this would add to the growing domestic demand; especially since pepper production India has fallen dramatically because of the disease and and India is no longer the world’s leading producer of pepper.
At the 45th Annual Meeting of the International Pepper Community (IPC), held in Candy, Sri Lanka, representatives of India said this year they will import 18,000 tonnes of pepper, an increase of 2,000 tonnes over 2016.
The Indian report estimates output this year at 57,000 tonnes and is projected to reach 64,000 tonnes by 2018 as weather conditions are favorable, while domestic demand is expected to reach 58,000 tonnes next year , and so they are expected to export pepper to increase, thanks to the quality of Indian pepper and their prices are very competitive in the international market.
On Tuesday, pepper on the delta was traded at Rs 410 a kg, while pepper in Karnataka was sold at Rs 390 a kg, roughly equivalent to the price of imported pepper from Sri Lanka.
Spot prices fell by Rs 100 to close at Rs 40,900 a tonne or US $ 6,251 a tonne and 42,900 a tonne or US $ 6,557 a tonne.
On the NCDEX, November contract dropped by Rs 1,205 to Rs 39,000 a quintal and the December contract dropped by Rs 1,100 to close at Rs 41,000 ($ 5,961 a tonne and $ 6,266 a tonne) .
MG1 pepper exports were at $ 6,750 a tonne for European and $ 7,000 a tonne for the US.
* According to the report of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, exports in 10/2017 reached 11,039 tons of pepper of all kinds, valued at $ 50.94 million; reducing by 18.3% in volume and 21.6% in value, but increasing by 21.0% in volume and 20.9% in value over the same period last year.
The average export price in the period reached 4,614 USD / ton, reduced by 3.95% compared with the average export price in September / 2017.
In the first 10 months of 2017, Vietnam exported 192,235 tons of pepper of all kinds, with a total value of USD 1.02 billion.
* Exchange rate: 1 USD = 65.4273 Rupees.
