Cardamom hits lower circuit

Cardamom cooled off on the MCX on Monday with the near-month contract hitting the lower circuit at Rs 369 per kg from Rs 392.5 per kg on Saturday, a decline of 6 per cent.

Similarly, December and January contracts also fell by 6.01 per cent and 5.85 per cent to close the day at Rs 383 per kg and Rs 394.5 per kg respectively.

Moving in tandem, February and March futures also slumped by 4.85 per cent and 4.01 per cent to close the day at Rs 404.30 per kg and Rs 416.90 per kg respectively. The cardamom price in the spot market, however, remained unchanged Rs 364.5 per kg.

Traders believe that the commodity was overbought due to estimated 30 per cent crop losses in the aftermath of heavy rainfall in the major cardamom producing centres, including the South. The total production this year is estimated to reduce to 9,000 to 10,000 tonne as against 12,000 tonne last year.

Many stockists had built their positions high to grab a large share of the export market, pushing the prices up on speculative buying. Now, they are offloading, said Yogesh Mehta, honourary vice-chairman, Indian Spice & Foodstuff Exporters' Association.