Arecanut growers and marketers are expecting further reduction in the influx of import of arecanut to the domestic market, pushing the prices of domestic produce up with the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) hiking the minimum import price of arecanut by ₹ 89 a kg.
The DGFT, under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in a January 17, 2017 notification hiked the price from ₹162 a kg to ₹251 a kg. It applied to whole, split, ground and other varieties.
Welcoming the notification, the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd (CAMPCO) said on Friday that it would help in further stabilising the prices in the domestic market.
It said that influx of import was causing continuous de-stabilisation in the domestic market. The CAMPCO and other cooperatives dealing with arecanut had submitted representations to the ministry recently outlining the market condition.
The notification has been issued at a time when new stocks of arecanut have begun to arrive in the market. “It will only boost the morale of domestic areca growers,” the CAMPCO said indicating that demand for domestic produce would go up helping in price stablisation.
M. Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director, CAMPCO told The Hindu that after the notification the prices of chali (white arecanut) variety has jumped from ₹ 5 to ₹ 7 a kg. The new stocks now commanded between ₹190 and ₹ 195 a kg. and old stocks between ₹ 260 and ₹ 265 a kg.
On earlier occasion whenever the DGFT had hiked the import price the prices in the domestic market had shot up by ₹ 25 and ₹ 35 a kg., Mr. Bhandary said.
