Scant supply, demand surge boost ginger prices

Spot prices touch ₹2,300 a 60-kg bag

Providing fresh hopes to ginger farmers in South India, the price of ginger rhizomes has been spiralling on account of scant supply and huge demand.

Spot prices of ginger rhizome touched ₹2,300 a bag (60 kg) in Kerala and Karnataka markets on Tuesday against ₹800 a few weeks ago. It was ₹3,000 a bag during the same period last year. High-quality ginger was trading at ₹2,400 a bag (60 kg) in Karnataka, trading sources said. Though the demand has increased, availability is restricted to some regions of Mysuru, Hassan and Shivamogga districts in Karnataka and a few pockets of Wayanad district in Kerala, Arun Anto, a ginger dealer, said.

Moreover, the farmers were holding stocks anticipating better prices in the coming months, he added.

The price of ginger had shot up to ₹8,800 a bag in 2019 and the farmers were anticipating that the price of the produce would shoot up further during July and August this year. Usually, the fresh ginger would arrive by the middle of August but this year it would be delayed more by than a month owing to the undue delay in planting the rhizomes after a prolonged dry spell in ginger-growing area of Karnataka, farm sources said.

The availability of ginger in the market from the northern States and Nepal is also very low, which has contributed to the price rise. Moreover, ginger exports to Bangladesh and West AsiaMiddle East countries from South India also helped increase the prices, trading sources said.

As per trade circles in Wayanad, the momentum may persist considering low availability of ginger. The demand-supply gap of the commodity is expected to grow till September-end when fresh stocks would begin to arrive in the market, a leading trader said.

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