Jaggery traders earn good returns on stock

Traders from Anakapalli, who had stocked jaggery for releasing it at a more profitable rate, are now pocketing good margins.

Every year, traders stock jaggery and sell it later in states like Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal.  

According to traders here, due to short supply in these states, they are making a profit of between Rs 40,000 and Rs 60,000 on each load (contains 10 tonne).

While in 2006-07, traders paid on an average Rs 120 per 10 kg and sold at Rs 140, during the 2007-08 season they bought at Rs 110 and are selling at Rs 180-190 per 10 kg, jaggery trader K Buchi Raju told Business Standard.

Traders had stocked about 1,500 loads of jaggery in 2007-08, of which they have already cleared 1,200 loads.

However, jaggery arrivals to the Anakapalli market dropped 15 per cent in 2007-08 as only about 3.8 million lumps (each lump consists 15 kg) reached the market compared with 4.5 million lumps in the previous year.

The current jaggery season, which started a couple of weeks ago, is seeing 500-1,000 lumps arriving at the market daily.