Anakapalli jaggery sales up 10%

A shortfall in jaggery lumps arrivals notwithstanding, Anakapalli jaggery market "� the second largest jaggery market in the country "� recorded a sales turnover increase of 10 per cent during the season, thanks to an abnormal increase in prices.

In the last season, the Anakapalli jaggery market turnover touched around Rs 50 crore and this year it is expected to cross Rs 56 crore. A significant drop in jaggery production in Maharashtra and Gujarat has buoyed demand for jaggery from Andhra Pradesh.

"During the 2002-03 jaggery season, the Anakapalli market received 39 lakh jaggery lumps (each lump contains 15 kgs), but in the current jaggery season arrivals came down to around 34.5 lakh lumps. By the end of July we expect another 50,000 to 60,000 lumps. But we expect the market to register a shortfall of around four lakh lumps," I V S Nageswara Rao, president of Anakapalli Jaggery Merchants Association, told Business Standard.

In April, the jaggery market received an average of around 25,000 lumps per day and 12,000 lumps per day in May. In June, the farmers are expected to bring in an average of around 2,000 lumps per day, he said.

Jaggery production has come down because of a bad monsoon last year and a resultant drop in sugarcane production. This apart, local sugar factories in the state offered higher price to sugarcane farmers which also had an impact on jaggery production.

Even as the market receives lower volumes of jaggery, the sales turnover has increased by 10 per cent during this season.

"During last season, traders had paid on an average Rs 85 per 10 kgs of jaggery. In the current season, we have paid around Rs 105 per 10 kg of jaggery to farmers and because of this the sales turnover has increased by 10 per cent even in a season of shortfall," K Buchi Raju, convener of Andhra Pradesh Jaggery Traders Association, told Business Standard.

From January onwards, the purchase prices of jaggery have been abnormally increasing. At present, the traders are purchasing black jaggery at Rs 130-135 per 10 kg and Rs 160-65 per 10 kg for good quality jaggery.

The drop in jaggery production in Maharashtra and Gujarat has buoyed demand for jaggery from Andhra Pradesh, and this attributed as the main reason for the price hike, he said.

Additionally, because of the prevailing good prices traders are also not stocking jaggery in the godowns and cold storage plants.

During the last season, Anakapalli jaggery traders had stocked close to about 3,300 loads (each load consists of 10 tonnes) of jaggery in various cold storage plants and godowns.

This year, the storage stocks are below 800 loads and these are also expected to be sold by the end of August, Nageswara Rao said.