Heavy speculation in small cardamom leads to huge trader losses

18-Apr-2025 05:17 PM

Kochi. Heavy speculation in small (green) cardamom has caused major financial losses to traders, especially in key markets like Gwalior, Delhi, Mumbai, and Jaipur.

While Kerala, the top cardamom-producing state, saw weak production and delayed arrivals this season, a syndicate from Gwalior reportedly took control of futures trading in the spice.

According to reports, the Gwalior group created a network of future contracts without actual trade, using diary entries and slips to show crores worth of transactions.

When market prices dropped, buyers backed out of earlier high-price deals, leaving traders with huge unpaid dues.

This led to widespread panic, with one trader in Shivpuri allegedly committing suicide and others filing complaints with the police.

Traders claim that the syndicate's cardamom is of poor quality and deals were made at artificially low prices.

For instance, while the market price stood at ₹3000 per kg, futures deals were fixed at ₹2200 per kg—forcing buyers to either accept inferior goods or pay hefty differences.