GUATEMALAN cardamom prices have advanced strongly in recent weeks as the market reaches the tail end of availability from the 2009/10 crop, which was a small one anyway. In the week ending May 28, European traders quoted Guatemalan bold green cardamom of around 8mm size as rallying to $28,000 a tonne cif main European ports compared with $27,000 a tonne a week earlier. Mixed yellow qualities (MYQs) of minimum 360gpl were said to be at $20,000 a tonne cif from $19,000 a tonne earlier. One Rotterdam trader indicated offers on these quality grades of MYQs as being as high as $22,000 a tonne cif. He observed that the market was now at the stage where there was no more crop being collected, meaning that importers will have to wait at least until November for MYQs and until December/January for the seeds... Read More