Turmeric surges parallel to cumin: 13-year high

- Commodity Current - Jayavadan Gandhi

Nowadays, the severe inflation of food items has broken the back of the people. After pulses and vegetables, spices, edible oils and grain markets are also booming, and the situation has become a nightmare for the government. Due to the non-stop boom in cumin for the past six months, the prices in the retail market have been rising to a high of Rs 800 per kg. Due to which cumin is at an all-time high level, turmeric is at a high level of the last 12 years and coriander is also at a record level of the last five-six months, the whole matter is slowly coming under doubt. Whether the fundamentally strong position of the current market is responsible for the continuous boom in the spice market or whether speculator groups are active have become debatable questions. Whether spices are not included in the government's list of essential commodities or whether the government is turning a blind eye has become a subject of inquiry. Along with cumin, most spices including turmeric, coriander, chili, pepper, cardamom are currently on fire. Especially in the last fortnight, redbean boom has taken hold in spices. Kashmiri chilli has increased from Rs 500 to Rs 800 per kg, fennel has increased from Rs 180 to Rs 320, ajmo has increased from Rs 160 to Rs 225 and brain melon has tripled from Rs 275 to Rs 820 per kg. Currently, there is a widespread suspicion that farmers and stockists are active in the areas where the spices are produced due to the negative impact on the cultivation of some crops due to the negative impact of the monsoon season, and there is a widespread suspicion that the remaining goods are going underground due to which the gap between demand and supply is getting huge support to the bullishness. Is going. With the increase in exports of commodities like turmeric, the prices are increasing at a rocket pace.

Turmeric futures have become the center of commodity trading these days with turmeric prices hitting a 13-year high. Two days ago, turmeric August futures went as high as 13800 per quintal, there has been a 35 percent boom in the current month. Turmeric prices have increased by 76 percent in the last three months. Futures authorities have added two per cent additional margin from today i.e. Monday July 24 to counter the recent rally in turmeric after cumin. However, it remains to be seen whether the whip of two per cent additional margin imposed on turmeric will control the rally, as the boom has remained unbridled despite multiple impositions of additional margins on cumin futures in the past. The price of turmeric, which was 9500 a month ago, has come down to 12700 today. In the fear of 20 to 25 percent reduction in turmeric cultivation this year, there is widespread discussion that it will not be surprising if the promise doubles to the level of 20,000 in the near future. The crop period of turmeric is the longest i.e. 250 to 270 days. Generally, after planting in July, the crop comes to the market in March-April. Average production of turmeric during 2022-23 last year is estimated to be around 11.6 lakh tonnes. However, seeing the rising prices of turmeric, the cultivation is expected to increase in the near future. In recent times, there has been an increase in the cultivation in Turmeric futures. In spite of the rein of the average upper circuit in turmeric futures, the market does not feel a break. Currently, due to factors like short supply and low planting against the increasing domestic and foreign demand of turmeric, it seems that the rise of turmeric will create new records in the near future.