Anakapalli traders pile up stocks as jaggery prices dip

The second biggest jaggery market in the country, Anakapalli jaggery market, has stocked about Rs 22 crore worth of jaggery in the cold storage plants.

Thanks to the significant arrivals of jaggery in the market and falling prices, the traders here are on a buying spree with the hope to strike a better deal from May onwards.

"We are expecting a good demand for Anakapalli jaggery from May onwards. For the last two consecutive years, sugarcane crops failed in Kamareddy and Chittoor area in the state. This year, we are anticipating a good demand from Kolkata and Orissa markets. That's why traders are investing huge amounts on jaggery stocks," K Buchi Raju, convener, State Jaggery Traders Association, told Business Standard.

The market is receiving around 35,000 lumps (each lump contains 15 kg) of jaggery per day, whereas during the same period last season, jaggery arrivals to Anakapalli market were about 25,000 lumps only.

At present, 10 kg of jaggery cost Rs 10. The two cold storage plants located in Anakapalli are already full and traders are now moving to other places to stock their purchases.

To stock 10 tonnes of jaggery, the traders have to pay rentals between Rs 5,200 and Rs 5,400.

During the last jaggery season, Anakapalli traders stocked about 1,800 trucks (each truck contains 10 tonnes) of jaggery in the cold storage plants. But this year, by the middle of March itself, the stocks reached to 2,000 trucks and may further increase by another 500-700 trucks by the middle of May, he said.

In the months of January and February, traders stocked low quality jaggery at Rs 115-120 per 10 kg. Now, the same quality of jaggery is available at Rs 105 per 10 kg.

"If we can sell the stocks at Rs 14,000 per tones, our expenditure will be worked out. And if we are able to sell at higher prices, traders will get huge margins," he said adding, "During the last season, traders sold their stocks at around Rs 17,000 per tonne."