Lacklustre Trade in Spot Turmeric amid Weak Domestic Demand, Overseas Orders; Market Eyes New Crop Harvest

Mumbai (Commodities control) - Spot turmeric prices were generally unchanged from the previous session, across the major markets in India on Monday.

Barring Gattha variety that slipped Rs 100 at Rs 5,600-5,700 per Quintal in Nizamabad mandi, the prices remained stable for all the varieties in Nizamabad, amid arrivals of 2,000 bags, unchanged from last session.

Meanwhile, the yellow spice was quoted steady for both the varieties at Basmatnagar mandi amid arrivals of 2,000 bags. On Monday, Kesamudram, Erode and Nanded mandis reported steady prices as Erode registered unchanged arrivals of 1,400 bags of turmeric.

In Warangal, however, Gathha and Finger varieties dropped Rs 200-300 to be quoted at Rs 4,200-4,300 and Rs 4,500-4,600 per Quintal today.

On NCDEX, turmeric settled lower by Rs 18 and Rs 34 for December and April futures at Rs 5702 and Rs 6,006 per Quintal respectively. The most active December contract settled higher in the last two consecutive sessions on firm export data. India exported 79,000 tons of turmeric during Apr-Aug, up 37% on year.

Having said so, harvest of new crops is expected to commence this week in Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra pradesh. Meanwhile ample carryover stocks in the market is an area of concern for the prices. Also the stockists and most of the traders are facing a cash crunch due to which they are making purchases as per immediate requirements.

Orders from the Middle-East, U.S, Europe and South-East Asia have declined. Even domestic markets are missing wholesalers and bulk buyers post Diwali.

Analysts expect December futures to crack lower as new crop arrivals are expected to flood the markets in a few weeks from now, while the market is already burdened with a hefty carryover stock of 45 Lakh bags (1 bag=60 Kgs). Traders are extremely cautious with their purchase and are bargaining heavily.