Jan 30, 2020
The spice traders are now disturbed on the onset of the Chinese Coronavirus spread which might hit the export business.
As chilli spice has hit in great volume output and China which has emerged as a major buyer of Indian chillies, the trading sector is troubled over the Coronavirus that has attacked China.
The resulting harvest of the chilli spice has begun in the major regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and a considerable amount of crop is expected because of good weather and rains, also 20 per cent increased area of cultivation. “The arrivals are averaging 60 to 80,000 bags of 40 kg each and we are seeing export demand from China and Bangladesh,” said G. Laxmikant, product head, chilli of Agrocorps.
Currently, traders are worried whether the coronavirus spread will hit the exports. “Right now, it seems to have affected only a part of China. The country has started buying chilli since its chilli inventory is depleted,” said Ravipati Peraiah, MD of Vijayakrishna Spice Farms.
China is expected to increase its imports at the end of Chinese New Year holidays in the next few days as its domestic production is insufficient to cater and meet the internal demands.
Though India is the largest producer of red chilli and it is the top exported spice from India earning as much as Rs. 5,411 crore in 2018-19, still India’s total chilli production had fallen by 16 per cent year-on-year to 16.89 lakh tons last year owing to inclement weather.
“Prices that rose to a new high of Rs. 215 per kg in December on supply crunch have started falling. The prices are in the range of Rs. 120 per kg for the lowest quality to Rs. 150 for the highest. We expect the prices to stabilize in the range of Rs. 100-120 per kg by March when the arrivals go into full swing,” Peraiah said.