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.
Proud Members of:
American Spice Trade Association (ASTA)
Association of Food Industries (AFI)
©2017 John H. Elton Inc. New York, NY USA
August 10, 2018
Turkish Lira :
As a result of the political events of the week, the depreciation over the past month of over 20% (most in the last 24 hours) is of particular interest to the spice trade. The shippers we have talked with about the situation are being cautious about making dramatically lower sales, explaining that raw material suppliers seem to prefer to hold stocks because of the uncertainty. There is an opportunity, but it is not a straightforward discount, as the internal "adjustment" presents challenges to obtain stocks.
Pepper:
We are in the BLACK doldrums again. Vietnam is showing sharp offers for nearby positions, but short covering there is providing some resistance against more precipitous decline. Practically this means that the "discount" has abated for later positions, and that is further dissuading buyers from doing anything forward. Brazil is showing some sharper offers as their crop is more freely available, but it is not sufficient to draw good interest from U.S. buyers. Indonesia is more willing to compete also.
Vietnamese WHITE offers abated a little more. Indonesia has responded, but is not fully competing.
Other Spices:
Finland is more freely offering new crop CARAWAY at sharp levels. More and more Indonesian CASSIA sellers have withdrawn from the market; the U.S. stocks may hold back the advance, but eventually the impact should be felt. Comoros CLOVES are offered at aggressive levels; Brazil is not yet competing with their new crop. CUMIN - India's exchange driven market has advanced a little, but the impact on the market from Turkey is the wild card to watch. There is a similar dynamic in OREGANO. Europe reports more and more strength in the POPPY market, but our market has stocks. Albanian SAGE is very strong.