Large cardamom, locally known as alaichi, is trading at Rs 84,000 per man in Taplejung as transactions in the new crop get underway. One man is equivalent to 40 kilograms. The rate has declined from Rs 96,000 at the start of the current season and from Rs 88,000 a week ago, with traders attributing the latest fall to the arrival of fresh produce.
New crop reaches the market
Trading of this season’s large cardamom has begun in Taplejung, where buyers and sellers are conducting transactions at Rs 84,000 per 40-kg man. The current rate marks a Rs 12,000 decrease from the price recorded at the beginning of the season, a fall of 12.5 percent. Compared with the rate a week earlier, the price is down by Rs 4,000, or about 4.5 percent.
The price has therefore moved lower in stages as new supplies have started coming into trade. The change from Rs 88,000 a week ago to Rs 84,000 now points to a further easing in the market rate over the past week. The available reports describe the current figure as the price at which transactions are taking place, rather than a fixed price for all future sales.
Traders link decline to fresh supplies
Traders say the arrival of new produce has pushed prices down. As the new crop enters the market, its availability is being reflected in current transactions, according to the reports on trading in Taplejung.
Alaichi trader Balmani Baral said the crop is now being brought from gardens in moist areas. The arrival of cardamom from those gardens is part of the current flow of fresh produce into trade. Baral’s account connects the timing of the new harvest with the change in price, while the reported market figures show how the rate has shifted since the start of the season.
The fresh crop is being traded at a lower rate than the Rs 96,000 per man reported at the beginning of the season. It is also below the Rs 88,000 level recorded a week earlier. Together, those comparisons show a gradual decline rather than a single reported price adjustment.
Current rate provides a market benchmark
At Rs 84,000 per man, the latest transaction rate offers a current benchmark for sellers and buyers in Taplejung as the new cardamom crop enters trade. The unit is important when comparing prices: the reported rate applies to 40 kilograms, not to a single kilogram or an unspecified quantity.
The reports do not provide a forecast for how prices may move next or details about the volume traded. For now, the stated explanation from traders is that new produce arriving from gardens has put downward pressure on the rate. The market price could be followed against the start-of-season level and the figure reported a week ago as trading in the new crop continues.
The price movement and the comments on fresh arrivals were reported by Ratopati, Gorkhapatra Online and Khabarhub.
