Another quick update on cumin, following up our previous cumin market report in February.
Production reports still show very small crop, so prices are likely to remain firm. In the last few months, we have seen prices rise 20-30% across the board for various grades of cumin seed. The Indian currency is still weak against the USD, so another reason for pricing to increase from a local point of view.
Other reports also suggest that 25-30% less area is going to be used for sowing cumin seeds for incoming seasons. This rumour is also convincing buyers to buy more, stock more, in case of further price rises.
Our own cumin is up 40% since last year’s crop, and we are hesitant to bargain more with farmers. Too much bargaining and we simply won’t get our goods! Demand has also been picking up lately, noted from an export point of view, so again factories have no reason to comply with our demands when there is an overwhelming amount of customers wanting to buy the “Easy” to produce items.
Indian Cumin Seed production this year is likely to be low because of bad weather, much like Turmeric. Production estimates say that crop for this year will be less by 50% compared to 2 years ago. Poor weather in Gujarat and Rajasthan are primary causes. The rainfall has not only led to a decrease in crop volume, but also quality. Getting our super premium grade of cumin seeds is proving to be very difficult, most traders unwilling to do business at these controls for some time.
Coupled together, we’ve seen many reasons for this price to stay high, but no strong counterarguments for prices to fall.
Our price today for Cumin Seeds:
50G (1.8 OZ) HKD 24
200G (7.1 OZ) HKD 64
500G (17.6 OZ) HKD 100
1KG WHOLESALE PACK** HKD 138
10KG + please enquire for bulk pricing
Special rates for restaurants / cafes.