Tamarind exports likely to go up 10%

The Spice Board said exports of tamarind are likely to log an impressive 10 per cent growth this year, though shipments to the US, a major market, may come down.

"Tamarind exports are likely to surge by 10 per cent in 2007-08 on account of rising export orders," Spice Board Director (Marketing) S Kannan told PTI in an interview.

"Export orders for Indian tamarind is picking up, especially from the UAE and Saudi Arabia," he said.

Last year, exports of tamarind rose remarkably by 26.19 per cent to Rs 3,884.50 lakh compared with Rs 3,078.20 lakh in the 2005-06. India shipped total 17,488.78 tonnes of tamarind to about 50 countries.

According to the official data, India exported 3,942.73 tonnes to the UAE, 2,180.65 tonnes to Saudi Arabia, 1,881.90 tonnes to Bangladesh, 1,707 tonnes to Syria and 1,247.40 tonnes to Egypt.

Interestingly, the export price of the commodity to Brazil stood highest at Rs 49.50 a kg and the lowest was Bangladesh at Rs 5.92 a kg.

The Spice Board said that it is upbeat about the exports despite some hurdles from the US.

Kannan said that the tamarind exports to the US markets are suffering a setback on account of higher shipments costs, especially the testing and treatment fee of the commodity at entry level.

India is the world's top producer, exporting several thousands of tonnes of seed, seed powder and fruit pulp each year.

Tamarind, which comes under the fruit category in the US, is largely cultivated in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.