India: Ginger prices rise on short supply

The ever-increasing demand for raw (vegetable) ginger has pushed up its prices, while short supply from other origins has led to the rise in the price of dry ginger in the global market. Indian output in 2009-10 was the same as that of the previous season, Mr P.V. Eliyas, a Karnataka-based ginger grower-cum-trader told Business Line.

However, next year, production is expected to be higher as the demand for ginger seeds is high now. “This has led to a shortage of 25 per cent in availability of raw ginger,” he said. According to Mr Eliyas, raw ginger from Kerala is sold at Rs 1,500 a 60 kg while that from Karnataka costs Rs 1,600.

The export price of dry ginger is Rs 130-140 a kg in Kochi, traders said. They added that 90 per cent of the ginger was marketed as raw and hardly 8 to 10 per cent of the total output is dried.


Damaged ginger

The good price for raw ginger had dissuaded growers from drying it, Mr Eliyas said, adding that the only problem faced by the growers was the buying of damaged ones by some processing units for manufacturing “ginger paste” at one-fourth the price.

Traders allege that 20 per cent of the loads dispatched from August to November comprised damaged ginger.They urged the authorities to initiate steps to stop the use of damaged ginger for edible purposes.

Source: blonnet.com