Live · Idukki, Kerala · Last auction · 1 September 2026

Cardamom auction prices

Today's Idukki auction, and what eleven years of record say about it. Every Spices Board session since 2014. We do not predict prices. We show you what has followed, when today's conditions appeared before.

Today's average
₹3,024
Month to date
₹3,024
Auction records
5,760
Trading days
3,195
Volume traded
289M kg
02

The daily auction, as the Board publishes it

The same columns you read on the Spices Board site — date, auctioneer, lots, arrived, sold, max price, average price. Two auctions a day, two floors. We add two columns the Board gives you the numbers for but never works out.

Spices Board of India — as published Added by Mani Spices
Most recent sessions
Date of AuctionAuctioneer No. of LotsTotal Qty Arrived (Kgs)Qty Sold (Kgs) Max Price (Rs./Kg)Avg. Price (Rs./Kg) Clearedvs month
1 Sep South Indian Online 192 44,806.4 42,325.0 3,615.00 3,055.47 94.5% +1.0%
Sugandhagiri Spices 303 94,662.0 93,594.0 4,014.00 3,009.71 98.9% -0.5%
31 Aug Speciality Food Parks 215 54,746.5 53,148.4 3,931.00 3,120.89 97.1% +3.2%
Growersforever 133 20,154.8 18,795.0 3,498.00 2,879.69 93.3% -4.8%
29 Aug RNS Spices 169 40,526.5 39,630.2 3,508.00 3,073.45 97.8% +1.6%
Idukki Mahila 158 31,460.2 31,153.0 4,159.00 3,060.31 99.0% +1.2%
28 Aug Kerala Cardamom, Thekkady 176 43,724.6 40,185.8 3,715.00 2,989.68 91.9% -1.1%
Green House 259 63,008.6 58,989.2 3,782.00 2,913.95 93.6% -3.6%
27 Aug South Indian Green, Kochi 197 43,693.1 39,367.5 3,754.00 3,016.43 90.1% -0.2%
Planters Assoc, Santhanpara 86 16,592.0 15,799.5 4,111.00 2,924.37 95.2% -3.3%
25 Aug Mas Enterprises 277 74,416.2 72,556.9 4,095.00 3,067.97 97.5% +1.5%
Header Systems 246 72,115.3 68,380.0 3,607.00 2,996.19 94.8% -0.9%
24 Aug Idukki Traditional 216 50,103.8 49,190.1 3,889.00 2,984.11 98.2% -1.3%
Spice More, Kumily 245 100,075.9 100,075.9 3,677.00 2,960.95 100.0% -2.1%
22 Aug Climate Natural 169 30,395.4 27,372.3 3,957.00 3,025.32 90.1% 0.0%
Planters Marketing Co-op 227 65,953.6 61,585.1 3,930.00 3,003.21 93.4% -0.7%
21 Aug South Indian Online 239 58,111.6 53,554.7 3,983.00 3,109.93 92.2% +2.8%
Sugandhagiri Spices 281 92,151.0 90,672.0 4,295.00 3,095.65 98.4% +2.4%
20 Aug Speciality Food Parks 301 79,102.9 74,002.6 4,240.00 3,200.11 93.6% +5.8%
Growersforever 167 25,375.5 23,002.2 3,840.00 2,853.87 90.6% -5.6%
19 Aug Idukki Mahila 228 48,947.9 44,614.9 4,047.00 3,143.31 91.1% +3.9%
RNS Spices 285 72,394.6 66,521.6 3,893.00 3,131.53 91.9% +3.6%
18 Aug Kerala Cardamom, Thekkady 223 64,184.2 59,778.5 4,042.00 3,151.56 93.1% +4.2%
Green House 290 74,762.9 72,157.8 3,864.00 3,054.88 96.5% +1.0%

Auctioneer names shortened to fit — hover any name for the Board's full registered title.

Cleared is Qty Sold divided by Qty Arrived — both numbers are on the Board's own sheet, but the ratio is the one that tells you whether buyers are competing. Anything under 92% means lots went home unsold. vs month puts each session against this month's average.

What the Board does not publish

The daily sheet shows you today. It cannot tell you whether today is high or low, because that needs the years behind it.

Today1 Sep
₹3,024
Auctions: 2
High lot
₹4,014
Low session
₹3,010
Lots offered
495
Sold
135,919 kg
Cleared
97.5%
vs previous day
-1.1%

South Indian Online ₹3,055 · 192 lots
Sugandhagiri Spices ₹3,010 · 303 lots

This week7 auction days
₹3,009
Auctions: 14
High lot
₹4,159
Low session
₹2,880
Lots offered
2,872
Sold
0.72M kg
Cleared
96.4%
vs prior 7 days
-3.4%
This monthSeptember 2026
₹3,024
Auctions: 2
High lot
₹4,014
Low session
₹3,010
Lots offered
495
Sold
0.14M kg
Cleared
97.5%
vs same month last year
+21.1%
This year2026
₹2,629
Auctions: 390
High lot
₹7,070
Low session
₹2,099
Lots offered
87,079
Sold
22.0M kg
Cleared
96.1%
vs last year to date
+0.8%

How to read these. Two auctions run each trading day, on two different floors. High lot is the best single lot that cleared; low session is the weakest floor average. Cleared is the share of everything offered that actually found a buyer — the clearest sign of how hard buyers are competing.

Volume-weighted monthly average · ₹ per kg137 months
Auction rate ≠ your delivered price

These are raw, ungraded lots. Here is what that means for your order.

Auction figures cover uncleaned cardamom straight off the floor — mixed sizes, unsorted, unpacked. Our rates cover graded, hand-sorted material from 50 kg. The gap between them is not a markup; it is the market's own price on grading.

03

The seasonal clock

Cardamom is cheaper in some months than others, every year, regardless of what the market is doing overall. All years pooled, shown as rupees per kilo above or below the year's own average.

Rupees per kg above or below the year averageat this year's level of ₹2,629
May runs ₹254 a kilo below the year's average. September runs ₹250 above it — a gap of ₹504 a kilo on the raw auction rate.
That gap is gross, not your marginIt is worth acting on in one situation and misleading in another.

If you are timing a purchase you were making anyway — your customer needs stock then and you buy then — the gap is real and it is yours.

If you are buying early to store, it is not. Holding costs you interest on working capital, storage, sorting labour, the auctioneer's commission and Board cess, plus weight and quality loss in store. Those come off before anything reaches your margin.
Month₹/kg vs year avgSame in %Arrivals (M kg)Read
January +₹187 +7.1% 28.5 Dearest months
February +₹26 +1.0% 25.7 Around average
March −₹139 -5.3% 23.1 Cheapest months
April −₹225 -8.6% 22 Cheapest months
May −₹254 -9.7% 21 Cheapest months
June −₹121 -4.6% 17.8 Cheapest months
July +₹67 +2.6% 21.3 Around average
August +₹229 +8.7% 26.8 Dearest months
September +₹250 +9.5% 24.9 Dearest months
October +₹54 +2.1% 29 Around average
November +₹168 +6.4% 29.9 Dearest months
December +₹241 +9.2% 31.6 Dearest months
Plan your buying calendar

Tell us your requirement and we will tell you when to buy it.

Send your grade, quantity and delivery month. We will come back with the seasonal read for that window, the current auction position, and a locked quotation valid 72 hours. The seasonal analysis is yours whether you order or not.

04

The two daily auctions do not pay the same

Two auctions run each trading day, on different floors, rotating through the Board's registered auctioneers. Same belt, same crop, same buyers in the district — and a consistent gap in what they return.

Read this before you use the tableA cheap floor is usually not a bargain — it is different material. Floors taking bigger lots and clearing more of them fetch more; floors taking small, mixed smallholder consignments fetch less. Bidding at the cheap end expecting bold green pods means high rejection, and the gap disappears into sorting loss.
Auctioneer₹/kg vs same dayClearedkg per lotSessionsSold (M kg)
Speciality Food Parks +₹40 98.0% 270 59 3.9
South Indian Green, Kochi +₹29 95.9% 234 474 31.7
Planters Marketing Co-op +₹29 96.9% 264 393 24.2
Koko Spices +₹27 96.5% 241 27 0.8
Mas Enterprises +₹23 95.3% 229 480 32.3
Idukki Traditional +₹20 97.6% 219 459 21.5
Kerala Cardamom, Thekkady +₹19 97.5% 253 462 28.0
Processing & Mktg, Kumily +₹16 98.0% 230 74 5.1
Vandanmedu Green Gold +₹15 97.3% 199 214 10.1
RNS Spices +₹9 96.7% 258 93 5.6
Idukki Mahila −₹1 98.0% 229 87 3.9
State Trading Corp −₹3 94.6% 161 129 3.2
Sugandhagiri Spices −₹6 94.6% 213 457 21.6
Green House −₹7 94.3% 205 461 18.3
South Indian Online −₹8 96.6% 239 93 4.7
Climate Natural −₹16 94.0% 182 62 1.5
Header Systems −₹17 94.5% 225 473 28.4
Spice More, Kumily −₹25 94.8% 250 274 14.7
Green Cardamom Trading −₹25 100.0% 264 154 7.4
Growersforever −₹32 92.3% 154 441 11.7
Planters Assoc, Santhanpara −₹54 91.8% 168 394 10.1

What the table is actually good for. Not floor-shopping for a discount. It tells you what to expect from each floor before you bid — whether lots run large or small, whether material typically clears, and roughly where that floor sits against the belt. If you are quoting against "yesterday's auction rate," it also tells you which floor that number came from.

What this table cannot tell youIt has no grade breakdown. The Board publishes lots, quantity and price — not what percentage of a lot is 8mm bold against 6mm small, husk and chaff. Two floors at the same rupee price can yield very different saleable stock. Recovery ratios come from processing experience, not from auction returns.
08

How to use this before you buy

Everything above describes the market. This is how to turn it into a decision — and what the record says you should never decide on alone.

Where today sits in this year's range
₹2,099 · year's cheapest session₹3,371 · year's dearest

This is the question the Board's daily sheet cannot answer: am I buying cheap or dear? Today is 73% of the way up this year's range, and +15.0% against the year's own average.

Five questions worth asking every day

01 · Rate

What is today's rate?

The day average, not the top lot. One exceptional lot tells you nothing about what you will pay.

02 · Demand

How much of it actually sold?

Clearance. Below 92% means lots went home unsold — and that is your leverage.

03 · Quality

What grade am I paying for?

Top lots run far above the session average. Grade decides your price more than the day does.

04 · Season

Where are we in the cycle?

Against the month, the year, and the long seasonal pattern — not against yesterday alone.

05 · Margin

What is my landed cost?

Auction rate plus grading, processing, packing, freight and tax. The only number your profit is calculated from.

What the record says never to decide on alone

The number this page cannot give you

Every figure here is the auction. Your profit runs on landed cost.

Auction rate is raw material at the floor. Your real cost adds grading, processing, packing, freight to your city and tax — and it changes with grade, quantity and destination. Send us those three and we will work out your landed cost against today's market, with a quotation locked for 72 hours.

10

Notes on the data

What was measured, and what the numbers do and do not support.

Source and coverage. 5,760 auction sessions, 7 November 2014 to 1 September 2026, from Spices Board of India auction returns for the Idukki belt. Updated automatically each trading day.

Averaging method. Monthly and yearly figures are volume-weighted by quantity sold, not simple means of session averages, so a large session counts more than a small one. Seasonal figures are computed against each year's own mean, which removes the long-term trend and isolates the recurring pattern. A part-period is only ever compared against the same part of an earlier period.

What the auction returns do not contain. Three things a stockist needs that are simply not in this data: recovery yield (how much 8mm bold comes out of 100 kg of raw lot after husk, chaff, small pods and moisture loss); transaction costs (auctioneer commission, Board cess, sorting and sieving labour); and carrying costs (storage, and interest on working capital). The Board publishes lots, quantity and price. Everything else comes from processing experience.

Who publishes this, and why. Mani Spices Exports is a cardamom manufacturer and exporter in Idukki. We sell graded, sorted material, so we have an obvious commercial interest in you understanding what raw auction lots cost to turn into saleable stock. The method behind every figure is stated above so you can check it against the Board's published data and draw your own conclusions — including about us.

Figures last recalculated: 2 September 2026, 00:09 IST