Spice exports decline 14% in April-July

Spice exports fell 14 per cent in volume terms and 10 per cent in value during the April-July period of the current financial year.

A total of 164,215 tonnes spices worth Rs 1,690.81 crore ($347.07 million) have been exported in the period, as against 189,870 tonnes worth Rs 1,880.88 crore ($448.30 million) in the corresponding period a year ago.

Against the export target of 435,000 tonnes valued at Rs 4,500 crore ($1,000 million) for the current financial year, the achievement has been 38 per cent in terms of quantity and 35 per cent in terms of dollar as per the latest export data of the Spices Board.
 

Exports during April-July
Spice	Quantity		Value
	2008	2009	2008	2009
Oils & oleoresins	2915.00	2250.00	292.40	233.86
Pepper	9430.00	6750.00	160.35	102.34
Chilli	81000.00	55000.00	415.52	342.03
Turmeric	21000.00	21000.00	91.58	132.43
Coriander seed	12745.00	16750.00	83.06	84.80
Nutmeg & Mace	245.00	1035.00	8.05	26.08
Quantity in tonnes, value in Rs cr            Source: Spices Board

The items which have shown a positive trend during the month are cardamom (small & large), turmeric, nutmeg & mace, coriander, celery, fennel, garlic and curry powder. Where as pepper, chilli, cumin and vanilla recorded a dip in export volumes.

The decline in export of spice oils and oleoresins has been unexpected and alarming as India commands the world market in these products. Export of oils and oleoresins registered a 23 per cent drop in quantity and 20 per cent in value. The down trend continued in pepper as well, where a drop of 28 per cent was witnessed in terms of volume and 36 per cent in value.

The export of chilli during the period fell 32 per cent in terms of volume and 17.68 per cent in value terms . The decline in chilli exports was mainly due to the absence of Pakistan from the market. Last year, Pakistan had imported 22,000 tonnes of chilli from India.

The export volume of turmeric during April-July was same at 21,000 tonnes as compared to the previous year, but registered an increase of 45 per cent in value.

The export of coriander seed increased 31.5 per cent in terms of quantity from 12,745 tonnes in April-July 2008 to 16,750 tonnes in same period in 2009.

Nutmeg and mace witnessed a substantial three-fold increase in export voulme during this period. The exports were 1,035 tonnes valued at Rs 26.08 crore as against 245 tonnes valued at Rs 8.05 crore last year.

Export of garlic doubled at 1,450 million tonnes, worth Rs 2.91 crore, as against 440 million tonnes valued at Rs 1.26 crore in the year-ago period.

Among the processed spices, export of curry powder increased 13 per cent in volume and 20 per cent in value. However, export of spices extracts and mint products dipped.