Commodity Outlook

Commodity Outlook

Good buying pushed up the price of cardamom. The weighted average price of cardamom is Rs. 302.44 per Kg. Total arrivals in December stood at 3,773 tonnes. Of this, 3,432 tonnes were sold. During the corresponding period last season, arrivals were 4,678 tonnes and sales 4,378 tonnes.
Vegetable oil prices were high due to lower domestic oil seed production and slowing imports due to rise in international prices.
Good pepper vines have been destroyed due to pests and disease in several plantations in Vietnam resulting in a fall in production to 1.2 lakh tonnes compared to 1.35 lakh tonnes in 2005 and is expected to be less by 10% in 2007.
Among the primary articles group, the price of bajra increased by three per cent, while barley, wheat, arhar and jowar rose by one per cent each. Cereals, on an average, rose by 0.6 per cent, while pulses by 0.2 per cent.
Prices of rapeseed and mustard seed moved up by one per cent, while soyabean and raw silk declined by two per cent and one per cent, respectively.
High and volatile prices reduced consumption of gold below 700 tonnes in year 2006 against in 2005 and total consumption across all applications including the use of scrap, reached 750 tons.