During the last week’s auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the cardamom market stayed steady with equal demand and supply equation. Upcountry buyers were buying but the pace at which they were covering in recent weeks has slowed down as good quantity is claimed to have been bought.

This week, the cardamom is estimated to reach a target of more than 600 tonnes. However, the main hub, Bodinayakannur where the processing is taking place, does not have adequate infrastructure to store such huge volumes of cardamom. The heavy supply of the cardamom has also lowered its prices.

Exporters also reported to have slowed down their buying and they estimated to have bought around 60 tonnes of exportable variety last week. Arrival of higher grade material has increased significantly during the current season. As a result, the 8mm capsules no longer remain a fancy item. It is being sold now at Rs 700-750 a kg.