Gambier prices moving down

Gambier Prices in local Indonesian markets are moving down due to low demand in India. On the other hand the production of gambier had also dropped due to this uneven market Farmers more interested in rubber rather than gambier. The effort involved in rubber harvesting is less when compared to gambier. Pasisir selatan belt is at the peak of their paddy harvest. This also in turn reduce gambier production. It's was an unstable week which passed by and is expecting an unstable market this coming week also

gambier finding new heights

Gambier is finding new heights, most of the exporters of gambier are turning into gambier making in an industrial way.
The company named Ganapati trading was previously only into trading of gambier and betel nuts are now into making of gambier. they had set up leaf procurement units in village levels.

Two more padang based gambier exporters are also into making factories in village level for the collection of gambier leaves.

Mixed inputs are coming from farmers. some farmers like the idea of selling leaves and not to make gambier so that they can focus on other cash crops and still have gambier as their additional income, whereas some other farmers consider this as a threat as they think that the factories may go for plantations leaving them jobless.

its time to find out what is profitable or and what is not, Having gambier factories in remote villages will surely develop those places

indonesian market report 8th august to 13th august

As expected the cargo was very short this week. Most of the collectors/exporters find it difficult to collect gambier this week

Payakumbuh and Jakarta based exporters was giving the highest bid in the market.

This weeks prices had touched 19500.

collectors/farmers of suranti/sigantur markets  had started delivery to payakumbuh ( 100km away from their market destinations) due to high prices

farmers on the other had is happy that the gambier prices are in the up trend. 

 " its the gift of god that when we start puasa (fasting) the price of gambier is going up. we where really worried on how to celebreate lebaran (muslim festival) this year. But now we are happy  says andi a farmer from siganur"

Indonesian market report 1 august to 6 august 2011

this week the market had reached a price of 19,000/kg. The cargo inflow in this week was huge. Most of the exporters sitting at Padang and Medan was also aggressive.
As this is the first week of fasting, farmers and collectors try to sell most of their cargo for money.

This week farmers had not produced gambier. The impact of this will come next week as the cargo for sure will be short next week.

Indonesian market report 25july to 30 july 2011

The Market had picked up pace and aggressive buying had started. The Market prices where at 19000 idr/kg,

exporters and collectors are trying to cover up more stock as they are expecting a short crop in the second week of august. Its because normally the first week of fasting ( that is the first week of august) farmers will stop working.

Indonesian market report 18 july to 23 july 2011

Gambier booch prices had moved up to 18500 level this week.

Most of the exporters where not ready to buy the cargo by the beginning of the week. The Indian/Indonesian markets  was unstable due to the verdict from supreme court of India on 20th July , but after 20th July most of the exporters become aggressive in purchases. most of the collectors/exporters where trying to collect more volumes by the end of the week

By the end of the week some of the Kanpur buyers where at Medan.

Next week, the prices will peak up as all the exporters are aggressive for procurement. Local prices at Padang are expected to be above 19500 level next week .

Low catechin gambier is at 16500/kg this week .

Indonesian market report 11 july to 16 july

The Market is picking up with even more exporters active. The prices at local market reach 15000 to 16000 levels whereas the Exporters buy at range of 17000 to 18000 for a kilo

One of the Medan based exporter had visited Payakumbuh farmer markets which in turn had given a boost in the price and a indication for the farmers that the price is going to go up

This year the Muslim holidays are early @ end august hence the fasting will begin by the end of the month and the exporters very well know that the production is going to drop on fasting month. and think this is the best time to cover stocks at these low prices.

Indonesian market report 4 july to 9 july

The Production had picked up and the market is getting active. There where more collectors in the market and the number of farmers had also increased.

The local prices at Padang and Medan which the exporters are quoting are 17,000 to 18,000 levels.

Most of the exporters are active in the market

july bringing hope to farmers

" its all bad news for us farmers since last December, a lot of my friends where disappointed and most of them stopped working. I was still sticking on to gambier production because I do not know any other work other than this. My 14 year old son start working and that was an additional income for my family, actually that help us to survive in this hard times

whenever collectors come they only offer lower price, week after week it make us feel that we are wasting our efforts, since June 15th there was no price drop.

July the prices are picking up, and its bringing hope for us poor people and an appreciation for our hard work and for a long wait"

Mr Mardi (farmer)

Indonesian Market report 27 june - 2 july 2011

Production of Gambier had still not picked up this week. Collection markets where without much sellers.
Lumpang and count grades where of high demand.

Officers from the Government of Padang , Ministry of Agriculture had visited some of the gambier growing villages on Monday 27th june. This was a follow up on some of the local news paper report on studying regarding the less production of the gambier crop.

The price in turn had been in an uptrend. The current local prices had turned up to idr 16000 to idr 17000 per kg.

Starving Gambier Farmers - Local News Paper report

The Local news paper of Padang " The Padang Express" had reported starving of Gambier Farmers

The News Translates like this

Gambier Farmers in the district of "Limapuluh Kota", especially in the sub districts of "Pankalan - Koto Baru" and "kapur ix" are starving. The children also is in the edge of dropping out from schools . This is because of the continuous drop in the prices of gambier. Its the third week of June and still the prices are unclear

" The prices of gambier is sill not clear. Collectors buy at idr 11,000/kg and even in some places less than idr 10,000/kg. There is no fixed price for the farmers. Gambier is becoming a difficult commodity " said Mr.Zarul Kasmi ( Village Head of Pankalan- Koto Bangun)

The former Head of the Village of Lubuk alai Mr.Irman also said " yes farmers in Limapuluh Kota are suffering badly this year. Prices of gambier came down uncontrollably. Prices had reached a level of idr 8000/kg"

Some of the house wives also added " We had to take loans with high interest rate form people for our daily bread and to keep our kids in school"

The Actual News in Indonesian Language is below

 

Petani Terancam Kelaparan

Harga Gambir Turun Terus

Petani gambir di Kecamatan Kapur IX dan Pangkalan Koto Baru, Kabupaten Limapuluh Kota, terancam kelaparan. Anak-anak mereka juga terancam putus sekolah dan putus kuliah. Ini terjadi karena harga gambir terus-terusan turun. Bahkan, dalam minggu kedua sampai ketiga bulan Juni 2011, harga gambir semakin tidak jelas.

"Harga gambir sekarang tidak jelas. Ada yang membeli Rp11 ribu perkilogram, ada pula yang membeli kurang dari Rp10 ribu. Tidak ada harga pasti untuk petani. Pokoknya, ekonomi petani gambir benar-benar sedang susah," kata Zarul Kasmi, Wali Nagari Kotobangun, Kecamatan Kapur IX kepada Padang Ekspres (Grup PadangToday), Kamis (16/6).

Tokoh masyarakat Nagari Lubuakalai, Kecamatan Kapur IX, Irman Teddy juga mengungkapkan hal serupa. "Ya, petani gambir di Kapur IX, tahun ini sangat menderita. Harga gambir turun sejadi-jadinya. Bahkan sampai Rp8 ribu perkilogram," ujar mantan wali nagari itu.

Sejumlah istri petani gambir di Nagari Sialang, Kecamatan Kapur IX mengatakan, turunnya harga gambir membuat mereka terpaksa berhutang kepada lintah darat, untuk membeli beras dan menyekolahkan anak-anak.

"Daripado awak indak makan, anak indak sikolah, dialah kami bautang (Ketimbang tidak makan dan anak tidak sekolah, biarlah berhutang)," ujar Eti, 43, dan Ina, 38, ketika ditemui di pasar Muaropaiti, pekan lampau.

Production down by 69.7% @ LimaPuluh Kota

Production drop at Limapuluh Kota
market	production/week in MT		down by
	dec '10	jun '11
gelugur	15	4	73.3%
sialang	35	25	28.6%
durian tinggi	20	3	85.0%
koto bangun	10	1	90.0%
murapeti	35	5	85.7%
lubuk alai	40	15	62.5%
koto lamo	35	15	57.1%
rimbodatar	10	3	70.0%
pankalan	15	4	73.3%
G malintan	25	5	80.0%
Mangilang	15	5	66.7%
Koto alam	10	3	70.0%
Harau	20	5	75.0%
Halaban	7	2	71.4%
Simpang kapas	5	1	80.0%
Talang	8	2	75.0%
Mahat	35	5	85.7%
TOTAL	340	103	69.7%

indonesian market report 20 june to 25 june 2011

The week started with a slight increase in the market. The local prices where ranging from 15500 to 16000. But two three exporters were having more interest in the market and was buying at idr 17000/kg.

Lumpang grades had picked up some demand. Exporters where trying to buy lumpang grades, but till they were not able to cover more than 5MT of lumpang per week. The Local prices of lumpang is idr 16,000/kg
The supply was still very low and is expected to be low in the near future

Indonesian market report 13june to 18 june

This week see some difference in the market. After a long down trend the market had bottomed up and the price in the local market had stabilised at idr 15,000 level. The Production at the Local markets had drastically dropped and the collectors where not able to buy more cargo. Exporters where very calm as they where sticking on to minimum procurement. Export Prices are at USD2250/MT CNF India

"The market went too down and the down trend was for a long time as well, That made a lot of mess in the market. Now I hear  that all the exporters are waiting for July... Ahhhh again bad weeks ahead,,, Riko (collector from suranti)"

Indonesian market report 6th june to 11 june 2011

Market is still down, Even though the farmers selling price touched idr 10,000 the selling price in Padang reaches only 15000/kg - 16000/kg. That is mainly because the excess amount of weight loss buying agents are having. ( as most of the padang exporters had minimized procurement and are buying only dry cargo. as a result the buying agents are drying gambier to its maximum so that their cargo does not get rejected)

IDR 10,000 is the price

The price had touched idr 10,000 a kilo at at limapulah kota markets. Most of the markets in limapuluh kota traded at an average of idr 10,000 for wet gambier.

The Buying agents where too particular to choose good cargo from farmers,

Even though the production was less, the buying agents does not show any interest in buying which in turn press the price down.

Gambier Farmers at Harau are looking for new jobs

Harau Valley is so beautiful,,, nature gifted flora and fona. Beautiful mountains and breath taking waterfalls. People of harau is farmers, The main crop include paddy and gambier.

We had a  chat with one of the Gambier farmer of this region.....

" I am now 47 years, I am doing gambier since I  was 25 years. I had seen ups and downs of gambier. The price was like this before also,,,, but now the price of everything had increased so this is a very low price,,, difficult to survive,,, he (pointing at his coworker) is going to Jakarta to find a new job,,, I hear that lot of other farmers are also changing their jobs,,, most of them going outside the village to find job,,,,,Currently the price of gambier is idr 12,000 for a kg. and idr 6,000 we need to give our land owner. by the balance 6000 how can we three of us share,,, he continues,,,, land owners also are not interested in gambier,, they are planting cocoa, rubber etc now,,, soon i need to also look for a new job"

Supreme court of India agreed to hear plea against gudka and pan masala manufactures

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New Delhi - 30 may 2011. The Supreme Court of India on Monday agreed to hear a plea against gutka and pan masala manufacturing companies for allegedly using plastic material in sachets in violation of its order banning use of such materials.
The application, filed by an advocate alleged almost all the companies--Pan Parag, RMD Gutka, Dilbag Gutaka, Rajashree Gutka, Rajdarabar Gutka-- are flouting the apex court order which had banned using of plastics in gutka and pan masala sachets after March 1. "Even long after the cut-off date of March 1, fixed by the Supreme Court, all the gutka and paan masala manufacturers are using plastic material in package sachets to sell such product to public. It is a deliberate and ingenious flouting of the law on their parts," advocate Abani Sahu, who filed the application, contended. He submitted these companies continue to use regular plastic material within the outer paper packet. "Many gutka and pan masala companies continue to use regular plastic material within the outward paper packaging material to deceptively conceal the usage of such plastic material and convey a misleading picture of superficial and seemingly visible external compliance with the Supreme Court's order," he said. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and C K Prasad, after hearing his arguments, posted the matter for final hearing on July 6. The apex court had on May 11 issued a contempt notice to the Managing Director of Dharampal Satyapal group of companies, makers of two popular brands of tobacco Rajnigandha and Tulsi, for allegedly defying its order banning use of plastic sachets for sale of their products. The Supreme Court had in December last imposed a ban on the use of plastic in packaging of tobacco products and set March 1 as the deadline within which the tobacco manufacturers need to implement its order. The Supreme Court ruling had come in midst of reports that more than five million children under the age of 15 years in India suffer from various forms of mouth cancers, which is mainly attributed to unregulated consumption of gutkha. In states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, more than 16 per cent mouth cancer patients are children. ================================================

still there is plastic

Gutkha and pan masala manufacturers' new initiative to sell their products in paper and aluminium foil pouches has run into trouble with the pollution control authority stating it could still contain plastic.

The pan masala makers were forced to change the packaging material following a Supreme Court ban on sale of these products in plastic pouches from March 1, 2011. "The pollution control board has so far not permitted the sale of pan masala in any new packing, as the sample provided by the manufacturers was sent to Lucknow pollution board where the results are awaited. "No manufacturer can sell his product until and unless they get a no objection certificate from Lucknow Board," said U.P Pollution Control Board regional officer Radheshyam. He added that sale of pan masala and gutkha in the new pouch prior to the permission from the Pollution Control Board would be in violation of the Supreme Court order, and legal action would be taken against those who indulge in it. The pan masala and gutkha manufacturers said they started selling the products in the new paper and aluminium pouch, after the excise department sent the sample pouch for testing. Kanpur Kirana Association Chairman and one of the city's leading pan masala distributor, Rakesh Agarwal, told PTI Bhasha today that the sample pouch sent to the excise department will be tested for a possible plastic content. He said if it does not meet the yardstick then they would recall the new packing. Agarwal added that the manufacturers are taking necessary precautions to ensure the pouch is plastic free, and also taking in writing from the packaging firms that the material does not contain plastic. Five prominent brands have started selling the products in the new packaging, and other manufacturers are expected to follow suit by 1 April. Agarwal said pan and gutka manufacturers would not raise prices despite switching over to the costlier packaging.

Buyers Market

It’s a buyer’s market. Since December 2010 it has been an uncontrolled down slide of price. Price from 33,000 for a kilo had reached 15,000 for a kilo. Farmers are getting the whole pressure down the line in this supply chain. Gambier prices can again come down, Even though the Gambier production had a considerable drop, it can’t match up with the reduced demand.  

The suppliers and big collectors of Gambier where expecting that the Gambier prices will not drop below 18,000 idr/kg, as it would be difficult for the farmers to survive. But what we saw was that the farmers still survive and still make Gambier. In kapur ix 80-85% and pasair selatan 60% of the farmers are working for Gambier.  In Kapur ix the farmers have no other alternative other than to make Gambier. Yes there is rubber and palm, but not all Gambier farmers can convert themselves for these commodities. Only around 10-15% of Gambier farmers can work in palm and rubber plantations. The other farmers have to make Gambier for their livelihood. In Pasasir Selatan, the situation is different, when the Gambier prices where high last years a lot of fishermen, paddy farmers started doing Gambier, for them to change back to their previous work fields would be easy.

Quality of the Gambier tends to improve a bit due to the less demand. As farmers very well know that it would be difficult for them to sell if the quality is bad. Suppliers and collectors are pressing the prices as they don’t know what would be the prices for the coming week.

Although Local news papers are reporting continuously about the drop in Gambier prices and its consequences among the farmers. the farmers are hoping that the prices to go by July 2011.