September 2011

[[(\|\|)]]	*Commoditus*
September 2011	*Commodity news and trends*
Bananas Cocoa Coconut Oil Coffee Cotton Hardwood Palm oil Pepper Rice Rubber Shrimp Sugar	The prices for black pepper, the world's most widely used and traded spice, are up 150% above the trough reached in 2009, and are 30% above the peak levels reached in late 2007 and early 2008. The sharp upward spike since the beginning of 2011 has been mirrored by prices of other major spices, such as chili (cayenne) and cumin. Supply has simply been overwhelmed by strong increases in demand, bolstered by continued strong economic growth in the economies of China and India, and the general world economic recovery. Upward pressure on black pepper prices is expected to remain strong, but with a major test coming in early summer, when the Vietnamese harvest, the world's biggest, will start to influence the market. But it is still Indian production, particularly polyculture/intercropping production on the rich southwest Malabar coast (Kerala in particular), alongside other tropical crops, which continues to have the strongest influence on worldwide prices. The 2010 monsoons which devastated Pakistan agriculture, had a negative, though lesser effect, on the Malabar coast, which is significantly south of Pakistan. Polyculture techniques for the very tall pepper plant (3 years to mature followed by 20-plus years of production) work very well, especially when they are combined with production of other close-to-earth crops, such as coffee and pineapple. A big question is whether the ancient intercropping techniques practiced throughout the tropics, which can require little or no fertilizer, will keep costs of production down, in the face of the rises in oil prices which are pushing up fertilizer prices and therefore the costs of production of many other agricultural commodities.	Africa Americas Asia

Focus in this issue: Brazil hardwood		Archives

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