Bangladesh: Cardamom annual demand is 8,000 tonnes, daily trade is over 1,000 tonnes

The annual demand for cardamom in the country is estimated to be less than 8,000 tonnes, but Chattogram's Khatunganj, the largest wholesale market in the country, is witnessing daily trades of over one thousand tonnes of the spice through a speculative practice known as DO (delivery order) trading, which makes the market unstable and consumers suffer. "The annual demand for cardamom in the country is at its peak at 7,600 tonnes. However, more than a thousand tonnes of cardamom trading occurs daily in Khathunganj through the DO trading," Amar Kanti Das, senior vice president of the Wholesale Spice Traders Association, told TBS. DO trading involves buying and selling contracts for future delivery of cardamom without actually taking possession of the spice. Traders engage in the practice of profiting from short-term price fluctuations, often manipulating the market by buying and selling large volumes of contracts. The speculative trading can lead to significant price volatility in ...