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Fatal competition in the sesame seed market

February 8, 2017 at 10:00 AM , Der AUDITOR
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NEW DELHI. The latest import figures for Germany show that one producer is clearly beating all other competitors – despite considerable price increases. Market participants are left speechless.

German buyers are hungry for more

First estimates show that imports from India increased in 2016. More than one third of the 31,000-33,000 mt Germany imported last year originated from India. Contrary to this it seemed that India was starting to lose out to Africa in 2015. This development is even more surprising as the market witnessed considerable price increases last year. Prices even reached a similar level as in 2015 in the second half of the year. One of the main reasons for this were considerable crop damages caused by rain in India. Another driving force were the price hikes in Africa due to soaring demand in China. Traders in India gladly seized the opportunity to follow suit. The high prices only impacted demand towards the end of the year.

Sesame seed imports to Germany in mt

country

2014

2015

2016*

India

13,087.90

12,963.90

13,000.00

Nigeria

7,897.40

8,348.90

7,676.28

Paraguay

1,905.60

1,611.30

1,166.75

Guatemala

1,432.00

1,013.20

867.97

Pakistan

1,240.30

768.80

369.74

China

107,80

140.70

71.83

source: Federal Statistical Office          *estimate

 

Attention turning to sowing

The price hike continued over the last few weeks with increases of up to 80 USD/mt. This week the prices, however, remained stable indicating that the market is much more relaxed. With the harvest being completed in the southern states of Africa attention is now turning towards the preparations for the sowing of the rabi crop. Although much smaller than the kharif crop, it is very much decisive for the further development in prices. The next few weeks promise to be exciting.

Sesame seed prices India

type

USD/mt

hulled, 99.95%

1,380

natural

1,250

CIF Hamburg

 Please find attached the price charts.

Attached Files

File icon
sesame seeds hulled chart
File icon
sesame seeds natural chart

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