Riding on festival demand and failure of sugarcane crop elsewhere, jaggery is commanding a better price than sugar in the market. Jaggery demand generally picks up around Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, with it being one of the main ingredients in the Ugadi “pacchadi” and the traditional sweets.
Sriramanavami that comes a week later further drives the demand with widespread use of jaggery for the sweet syrup "Panakam," a mixture of water and jaggery.
Traders benefit
"Demand picked up from parts of the State, mainly Guntur and Krishna Districts and upcountry markets in March. As a result, the lowest variety sharply rose from Rs.230 for 10 kgs to Rs.250. Deluxe variety is up from Rs.275 to Rs.340," says a prominent trader Korukonda Butchiraju of Anakapalle, one of the largest jaggery markets in the country.
Traders who had built up stocks expecting a rise in the price following drought conditions and failure of crop in Maharashtra are laughing all the way to the bank.
Arrivals till month-end
Until the demand picked up, about two-thirds of the stock used to comprise the inventory. But after the price spike, about 80 per cent of arrivals are going to the upcountry market and only the remaining is going to building the stock. With an estimated turnover of Rs.130 crore, the transactions in the market cover about 50,000 tonnes of jaggery.
The arrival of stock lasts till the end of April. In the neighbouring Berhampore, medium variety of jaggery is selling at a staggering Rs.345 with stock not being abundantly available from other markets. With Sriramanavami approaching, the demand is likely to go up further.
Crop failure
One of the main reasons for sharp rise in the demand is said to be crop failure in Maharashtra following acute drought conditions. Now jaggery sells at around Rs.54 a kg and sugar is far behind at Rs.38 in local stores. Market watchers say even sugar price has gone up of late.
