Groundnut prices gain due to high export demand
Low availability of groundnut for crushing coupled with high demand has led the price of groundnut oil to increase by more than Rs 150 per tin in the past one week. According to market sources, high demand and short supply may push up groundnut oil prices even more in coming days.
On Monday, groundnut oil (sold loose) was traded at Rs 960- 965 per 10 kg which was Rs 835-840 a week ago and has increased by Rs 125 per 10 kg. The groundnut oil prices for a new tin of 15 kg gained by Rs 40 on Monday and it has reached to Rs 1,585-1,590. It was Rs 1,430-1,435 per tin almost a week ago. About 100-120 tonnes of groundnut oil are traded every day. Groundnut oil prices had reached an all time high level of Rs 1735-1740 per 15 kg tin in October this year. Samir Shah, president, Saurashtra Oil Mills Association (SOMA), said “The prices have also increased because millers are facing a shortage of groundnut for crushing. Most of the groundnut is consumed for export at present. Moreover, farmers are increasingly holding on to the crop as they want higher prices for groundnut.” He added, “Most of the groundnut oil mills are working only two to three days in a week since last one month.”
There are about 150 groundnut oil mills in Saurashtra region. Due to the export demand groundnut prices had increased by 25 percent in December also. “The demand in China for groundnut is huge at this time. Even other countries are also buying peanuts which has increased the price further”, said Vikram Duvani, MD of Rachana Seeds Industries from Junagadh. Groundnut is currently traded on Rs 4,000-4,100 per quintal and about 35000 bags have arrived in Gujarat to add to a tally of about 1 lakh bags that came in earlier this month. Duvani said, “This year the groundnut export from India is likely to cross 5.5 lakh tonnes as the demand is high in the international market.”
According to IOPEPC, during 2010-11 India had exported 4.50 lakh tonnes groundnut. As per groundnut exporters, so far the country has exported more than 2.5 lakh tonnes of groundnut. According to Samir Shah, prices are all set to remain firm this year as groundnut crop is less than last year.