Castor carry forward stock to be the lowest ever in '09

Stock may hover around 25,000 tonnes on Jan 1.

In the wake of higher local consumption and increased exports in 2008, castor carry forward stock in 2009 is likely to be the lowest ever.

Industry players estimate that carry forward stock on 1 January 2009 may be around 25,000 tonnes.

The carry forward stock of castor in the beginning of year 2008 stood at 1,00,000 tonnes in the country.

“However, there is not much supply of castor in the market at present as majority of crop was consumed due to higher demand of the commodity in both national and international markets. Year 2009 is likely to begin with negligible carry forward stock of 25,000 tonnes,” said BV Mehta, executive director, Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).

According to castor traders in Ahmedabad, castor carry forward stock currently is only 2 lakh bags, which was at 8 to 10 lakh bags same time last year. “Usually, carry forward stock of castor remains at 35 to 45 lakh bags but this year, it is likely to be the lowest ever this year,” said a castor trader in Ahmedabad.

The lower carry forward stock has led to volatility in castor prices. In the spot market, castor prices had tanked to Rs. 550 per 20 kg last week. The prices further rose to touch Rs. 600 per 20 kg yesterday and today it again declined to Rs. 588 per 20 kg.

Castor futures market was even more volatile last week. Castor December future at Ahmedabad Commodity Exchange rose to Rs. 2,863 few days back from Rs. 2,520 before Diwali, which showed an increase of Rs. 300 to Rs. 320.

However, it agained fell by Rs. 100 too touch Rs. 2,767 mark on 11 November. Today it further dipped to Rs. 2,747 after reaching an intraday high of Rs. 2,802.

Castor traders expect the volatility to end in next couple of weeks when fresh arrivals pick up in local markets.