Jaggery prices at Anakapalli have declined 20 per cent in the last 20 days as compared with the first week of this month. Traders expects the prices to go down further by 4-5 per cent over the next couple of weeks.
Beginning this month, traders purchased black jaggery from farmers at Rs 230 per 10 kg. Now these prices have fallen to Rs 184 while other varieties like Rajbhog have dropped to Rs 197 (Rs 245 per 10 kg), and deluxe to Rs 255 (Rs 220).
“The decline in prices is mainly due to plenty of stock in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and increase in arrivals at Anakapalli,” KLN Rao, secretary, Anakapalli Jaggery Merchants Association, said.
Previously, jaggery traders in Maharashtra used to heavily depend on the Anakapalli market, but this year they have opted for Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh markets, where jaggery is available at reasonable prices.
This apart, arrivals have increased this season here compared with last year. Average jaggery arrivals last season in November stood at 5,000-6,000 lumps (each lump contains 15 kg) a day, whereas this year arrivals during the same month have on average increased to 15,000 lumps. In October last year, Anakapalli received about 80,000 lumps while this October this was at 180,000 lumps.
Similarly, in November 2010, arrivals were 90,000 lumps and this year so far the market has received 140,000 lumps. “We expect black jaggery prices to fall to Rs 170-175 per 10 kg,” he said.
However, with jaggery available at lower prices, traders here are keen on stocking.
“We expecting a further drop of Rs 6-7 per 10 kg in the next 10-15 days. If this happens most will start stocking and the decline in prices may be arrested for a few days,” Buchi Raju, a trader, said.
