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American Spice Trade Association (ASTA)
©2021 John H. Elton Inc. New York, NY USA
Spice & Commodity Brokers in Forest Hills, New York
John H. Elton, Inc., is a full service ingredient brokerage house specializing in herbs, spices, dried fruits and nuts.
June 10, 2022
Many spice markets are inactive, including PEPPER. Robust inventories built during Covid, along with economic uncertainties about future demand are some of the underlying factors. From Vietnam we are seeing a fairly steady market despite limited buying, as farmers there have resisted selling below the recent trading range - they prefer to hold inventory. Brazil's currency - always volatile against the Dollar - declined 4.5% in the last week, and their prices sagged more. The differential to Vietnam levels is now wider than has been typical of late.
Other Spices:
Finland's cold spring has made for a late start of their CARAWAY crop, which will be shorter anyway as farmers shifted to other crops this year. Guatemala still has stocks of CARDAMOM from the 2021 harvest and expects a larger one in the fall; prices eased. India's CUMIN levels have held steady - as has been the case for most of their spice items of late. Chinese GARLIC prices reversed dramatically from the previous declines as the harvest arrived. POPPY levels are advancing; concerns about the Czech production and strong freight rates from Europe are the drivers. The Moroccan ROSEMARY harvest is late. THYME quotes from all origins are at higher levels.