Syrian crisis a boon for jeera exporters

Spices board however say if quality is not maintained, India will lost the edge

The crisis in Syria is a boon for Indian jeera exporters. Exports of the spice rose from 50,000 tonnes in 2013-14 to 150,000 tonnes in 2014-15.

With Syria, a fierce competitor, unable to cope  with demand, Indian jeera exporters, the majority of whom are based in Gujarat, saw their orders climb.

“Good weather, coupled with the crisis in Syria, has pushed jeera exports. Quality is the biggest constraint for sustained exports of the spice,” said Spices Board Chairman A Jayathilak. About 30 per cent of Indian jeera exports are contaminated.

Trends for 2015-16 already show a decline in jeera exports. From 49,000 tonnes in first quarter of 2014-15, exports declined to 27,000 tonnes in the same quarter a year later.

The Spices Board is setting up a Rs 15 crore testing laboratory in Gujarat, the seventh such in the country. “The laboratory at Kandla port will come up by December. It will approve only export worthy spices, especially seed spices,” said Jayathilak.

“Against 180 consignments that were rejected in 2011 in Europe, which sends us data regularly, only 16 consignments were rejected in 2014,” he added.

During the first quarter of 2015-16, spice exports stood at Rs 3,980 crore, or $626.81 million, up 30 per cent from Rs 3,059.74 crore, or $511.22 million, in the same quarter a year ago.

Volume grew from 213,443 tonnes in the first quarter of 2014-15 to 215,215 tonnes in the first quarter of 2015-16. Chilli, garlic, pepper, small cardamom, fenugreek, nutmeg, fennel and spice oils contributed substantially to the spice export basket.

India exports 15 per cent of its spices, which contributes 48 per cent in volume and 42 per cent in value to the world spice trade. Processed spices now form half the country’s spice exports. “India is growing in global significance for raw as well as processed spices. The share of processed spices has been growing four to five per cent year-on year,” Jayathilak added.