Supply and demand

Supply is how much cardamom farmers and traders bring to auction. Demand is how keen buyers are: you can see it in how much of that cardamom they actually buy (the “share sold”) and in the price they pay.

More supply, lower price. When 10% more cardamom comes to auction than in the same month last year, the price is usually about 1.4% lower than last year.

Buyers taking almost everything is a small sign of strong demand. In the weeks when the most was sold, the price changed by +0.8% the next week, against -0.5% in the weeks when the least was sold. The difference is small.

Time of year. Prices are usually highest in August and lowest in May. The most cardamom comes to auction in September, during the picking season.

Price, supply and share sold

Average price (₹/kg), each auction day

Supply (tonnes per auction day)

Share sold (% of supply bought)

How to read this

Top chart: the blue line is the average price.
Middle chart: each orange bar is how much cardamom came to auction. Taller bar = more supply.
Bottom chart: the yellow line is the share of that cardamom that was actually sold. Near 100% means buyers took almost everything.
All three share the same dates. Look for times when the orange bars get shorter: the price often rises soon after.

A typical year

The usual pattern across the months, averaged over 2021–2026.

What it shows: Cheapest month: May (about 10.2% below usual). Dearest month: August (about 8.4% above usual).

Price compared with normal, by month

Usual supply, by month

How to read this

Left chart: each bar is a month. Blue bar = prices are usually higher than normal that month; red bar = usually lower.
“Normal” here is the price level around that time, so the big price rise over the years doesn’t hide the monthly pattern.
Right chart: each orange bar is how much cardamom usually comes to auction in that month. Tall bars are the picking season.
Compare the two: months with lots of supply tend to have lower prices.