As ginger production season is at its peak in Kerala, price of dried ginger has plummeted to Rs 10,200-10,500 per quintal. The market had opened this year in a range of Rs 11,300-11,500, but currently on a slightly bearish mode thanks to heavy local arrival.
The sharp increase in demand for fresh ginger affected the production of dried ginger early this year, however there is a rise in supply in recent weeks. India is totally out of the global market as on price front the country is nowhere in a position to compete with China, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
The demand for Indian ginger is confined only to the Gulf region since NRIs prefer mostly Indian ginger. The domestic demand for the spice from all over India favours a much higher price tag in India.
Ethiopia offers ginger at price tag of $600 a tonne while Nigeria offers $850 (All FOB Kochi).
Chinese price tag is $1,150 per tonne while the Indian stuff is being offered at a much higher rate of $2,350. So, value added ginger producers across the world do not prefer India for dried ginger. Export of ginger had dropped by 43 per cent in volume during April-December period of current fiscal year to 3,250 tonne from 5,700 tonne in the same period of last fiscal.
Thanks to the higher rate of India, on value terms export had increased by 18 per cent to Rs 24 crore from Rs 20.25 crore. Even the Indian processors import ginger from China, Ethiopia and Nigeria due to their much lower tags.
The production season will be extended till May as crop from Karnataka will hit the market by March once season in Kerala comes to a halt.
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Throughout last year the price had moved on a lower range, Rs 8,500-9,500, thanks to better crop.
But production is estimated to be lower this year and this also helped the ginger market to increase beyond Rs 10,000 level.