Pressure on the price of pepper due to heavy import of cheap goods from Sri Lanka

21-Oct-2024 06:02 PM

Kochi. The domestic producers are quite worried and troubled due to the fall in the price of pepper by about Rs 19 per kg during the last fortnight. Within the last one week, its price fell by Rs 11 per kg.

During the last five weeks, the price of pepper has fallen by about Rs 34 per kg. The producers have attributed the fall in the domestic market price of pepper to the import of huge quantities of cheap goods from Sri Lanka with only 8 percent customs duty under the SAFTA agreement.

The price of pepper in the terminal market of Kochi has come down to Rs 627 per kg for ungarbled category and Rs 50 per kg for garbled category and Rs 647 per kg for garbled category.

According to a leading trade analyst, almost all the major consuming markets of the country are filled with the stock of pepper imported from Sri Lanka.

It is understood that this consignment is reaching the northern, eastern and central markets from Mumbai and is even being sold in southern India.

As a result, there is a lot of pressure on the prices of indigenous pepper, forcing farmers in all major producing states to sell their produce at lower prices.

The cooperative farmers' committees that had accumulated pepper stock in anticipation of further price rise are also now having to make efforts to reduce their stock.

According to analysts, during the quarter of July, August and September 2024, a total of 12,606 tonnes of pepper was imported in the country, out of which 10,433 tonnes were imported from Sri Lanka alone.

According to the Director of the Indian Pepper and Spice Trade Association, the production of pepper in Sri Lanka has increased to above 25,000 tonnes and efforts are being made to sell the surplus stock from there to India. However, the quality of this imported pepper is said to be light.