Before Rakshabandan why there is a sudden bounce of rates in the dry fruit market?
Before the festival Raksha Bandhan 2021, the prices of other dry fruits including almonds have started touching the sky. In just 10 days, their prices have gone up by 10%. If we look in rupees, then this increase is up to Rs 250 per kg. Traders attributed this to the Taliban attack in Afghanistan. Due to this business activity has come to a complete standstill. The inflow of goods from India to Afghanistan and from there to India has stopped.
what do we import from Afghanistan:
The import-export trade in India has come to a standstill due to the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan. The developments in Afghanistan have particularly worried the importers of dry fruits. Traders said exports from Afghanistan to India include dried raisins, walnuts, almonds, figs, pine nuts, pistachios and dried apricots, while fresh fruits include apricots, cherries, watermelons. Apart from this, some medicinal herbs are also exported.
India’s exports to Afghanistan include tea, coffee, pepper and cotton, besides toys, footwear and many other consumables.
Where the shipment stuck:
Most of the imports from Afghanistan come through Pakistan. Import-export shipments are currently stuck, which may cause huge losses to traders. Vineet Sethi of Vardur Herbals of Khari Baoli, Delhi said that their consignment of dry fruits comes from Attari (in Punjab), but it has been stopped only one and a half months ago. Due to this, the rates of dry fruits have started climbing in the last 10 days.
Shipment arrives every week:
Concerned trader Rajendra Bhatia of Ramco Traders from Mumbai, who imports dry fruits from Afghanistan, said, “We are not in touch with people at that end for the last 4 days. Bhatia said his firm imports a truckload of dry fruits every week from the road and now has no option but to wait. Like Sethi and Bhatia, there are many traders who have faced difficulties in the past few days. For the last two days, the freight movement has come to a complete standstill.
Ajay Sahai, director general and CEO of Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), said that soon, they (the Taliban) are conducting a review, as the Taliban have said that they will see that business is not affected. Not sure how long this will last, but that’s the case for now.
According to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAT), a leading organization of 80 million traders, bilateral trade between India and Afghanistan stood at US$ 1.4 billion in 2020-21, as compared to US$ 1.52 billion in 2019-20. In 2020-21, the exports from India have been recorded at USD 826 million and the imports stood at USD 510 million.