After the difficulties encountered so far in the cultivation and exports of Indian pickles due to climatic, logistical and still very active Covid events since several month, it was possible to imagine an exit from the tunnel for the months to come. Unfortunately, the coming months should bring us to life scenarios that we will have to deal with.
During the first four months of the current year, the farmers remain the first affected by the consequences of the cold and the abnormal rains which fell on their crops leading to difficult yields and operating losses even if traditionally their customers industrialists assure them of their support within the framework of sustainable cultivation programs. One year already that, beyond the notable effects of the pandemic in the various producing regions, local manufacturers have had to take additional food safety measures to try to reassure an international clientele initially boosted by the consumption effect linked to the Covid but more and more timid in the face of the enormous logistical problems encountered in importing their pickles under acceptable tariff conditions. But with the four-fold increase in freight rates, the export rate slowed down and foreign buyers began to look for solutions and explore to ensure the sustainability of their needs outside India.
The Indian factories, which still remain numerous on the open market since 1996, must now face the challenge of the planning of traditional sowing linked to the monsoon rains and imagine what will be the foreign demand for the harvests expected from the second half of June. The current situation suggests that they will limit sowing even if some of them intend to maintain their usual level of production.
The overall level of production, affected by local prudence, in the regions of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh will undoubtedly be lower than in previous years. Fob prices should however remain stable. Ocean freight level remains the key point.
