Mentha oil up 12 per cent on strong pharma demand

The price of mentha oil has jumped by 12 per cent this month due to rising demand from the pharmaceutical industry, the major consumer of the medicinal ingredient. In the benchmark Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh market, the price rose to a historical high of Rs 1,410 a kg today, a marginal decline from an intra-day high of Rs 1,420 a kg, as compared to Rs 1,265 a kg in the beginning of this month.

According to Ajay Kedia, managing director of Kedia Commodities, a Mumbai-based commodity broking firm, “Export demand is expected to remain high, from Europe. Demand from China has also gone significantly up.” Usually, shipment to European countries begins in October, for which traders have already started booking orders.

 

The demand for mentha oil begins towards the end of the rainy season as pharmaceutical companies use the commodity as a major ingredient for manufacturing various anti-cold medicines. The pharmaceutical industry takes around 60 per cent India’s total mentha oil output.

Following the trend in the spot market, the commodity also shot up in futures.