Coriander at all-time high in spot market

Coriander (dhaniya) prices have reached an all-time high of Rs 13,000 a quintal due to heavy rain in crop- growing areas.

“Due to hailstorms in major dhaniya producing areas, the quality of the crop has been impacted, which has also had an impact on arrivals,” said Deepak Jaju, a Rajasthan-based coriander trader.   

Since its quality has been impacted to a great extent, the crop has turned black and farmers are dumping such low grade quality coriander, which is selling at Rs 5,000 a quintal at the spot markets. Traders say that 70 per cent of the arrivals which are coming into the market are damaged crop.

Arrivals in the major crop-growing areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat have reduced to half when they should have been in full swing. Arrivals all over India are now at 100,000 bags (1 bag = 40 kg).

“As the stock which is hitting the spot market is damaged, good quality coriander prices might move even higher, to Rs 15,000 a quintal, in the next few days,” said Gireesh Rathod, a Rajas-than-based coriander trader.

In the past one month, dhaniya prices on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange have seen a jump of 16.3 per cent to Rs 9,546 a quintal.

The futures continue to trade at a huge discount to spot, because of an overhang of bad quality crop.

Coriander production last year stood at .52 million tonnes, while this year, it is estimated to be .4 million tonnes.  

This time, the carry-forward stock was also lower and stood at 1 to 1.2 million bags, compared to 2.5 million to 3 million last year.

Currently, most of the demand for dhaniya has emerged from major ready-made masala producers like MDH, Everest and Ramdev Masala.

They start buying in a big way when fresh arrivals start to hit the market. Exporters are currently not buying from the Indian market as the quality of coriander which is on the spot market is bad.

Exporters are expected to start buying  after March 20. Retailers and stockists are also buying in a big way, which has also caused prices to go to an all-time high.