Festive demand jacks up gold jaggery prices

Barring the deluxe quality gold coloured jaggery, prices in the Anakapalli market, the second largest jaggery market in the country, have remained stable for the last two months.

Prices in January dropped by about Rs 12 on every 10 kg on all varieties of jaggery.

The demand for gold coloured jaggery usually increases during Ugadi and Sriramanavami. This Ugadi and Sriramanavami, the gold jaggery prices increased to Rs 105-107 per 10 kg as against Rs 95 in the last week, KLN Rao, president, Anakapalli Jaggery Merchants Association, told Business Standard.

Apart from the festive demand, deluxe quality gold coloured jaggery arrivals have been very low, and this too has raised the prices of the premium quality jaggery significantly, K Buchi Raju, senior jaggery trader, said. During the current jaggery season till date, about 70,000 lumps (each lump carries 15 kg) of deluxe gold jaggery arrived at the Anakapalli market, as against the total jaggery arrivals of about 33 lakh lumps.

Though the jaggery arrivals to Anakapalli market increased during the 2006-07 season, compared with the last season, this is still short of the traders' expectation.

Last season, the market received 38 lakh lumps of jaggery, and this year up to March 20, arrivals touched 33 lakh lumps.

It is expected to touch 44-45 lakh lumps by the end of this season. Traders had anticipated 55-60 lakh lumps during this season following bumper sugarcane crop.

Three sugar mills in Visakhapatnam district have crushed more cane during this season, and the mills have paid good prices to the sugarcane farmers, which made the latter prefer the sugar mills over jaggery production, Buchi Raju, said.