Indian spice export data: China becomes the largest buyer!

In fiscal 2020, India exported $3 billion worth of spices, a five-year high. Among them, nearly 710 million US dollars were exported to China.

China becomes the largest export market

According to data from the Indian Spice Council, in the past two years, China has surpassed the United States to become the largest export market for Indian spices, but the specific demand has undergone certain changes.

Hot peppers are in highest demand

In addition to China and the United States, India also exports chili to Bangladesh, Thailand, the UAE, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia and Germany. This variety accounts for 29% of Indian spice export revenue.

The U.S. is still a major customer

Indian spice sellers still regard the United States as a regular customer and main buyer.

The Secretary of the Indian Spice Council said: “The United States is a stable market for us, and this is especially important for high-value spices such as mint products and cardamom.”

Biplab Sarma, a senior spice analyst under Indian agricultural product data analysis agency Agriwatch, said that the crop failure in Pakistan has led to a surge in demand for Indian spices.

Pakistan’s Sindh province is known as the hot pepper center of Asia. Last year, the crop failure in the region caused a 40% drop in output. In addition, the Indian Spice Committee stated that China's ban on trade with Vietnam through Haiphong Port has also led to an increase in its demand for Indian spices.

In addition to chili, the market for finished products such as curry powder, spice oil and mint products is also growing steadily, reaching its highest level in five years.

Currently, curry powder exports are worth 8.3 billion rupees ($180 million). In 2015-2016, curry powder exports amounted to 5.3 billion rupees (71 million US dollars).

In 2015-2016, India exported 2.5 billion rupees (300 million U.S. dollars) worth of mint products; in 2019-2020, this number increased to 38.3 billion rupees (500 million U.S. dollars).

The United States is one of the largest buyers of Indian curry powder and mint products. The Spice Council of India stated that manufactured goods account for 50% of the total export value.

From 2019 to 2020, India exported 264 million rupees ($350 million) in fragrance oils and oleoresins, which is the highest level in the past five years. 30% of them are sold to the US market. Other buyers include China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Indian Agricultural Costs and Prices Committee and agricultural economist, pointed out that it is too early to say that China has replaced the United States as the main market for Indian spices.

Weak exports of pepper and fennel

From 2019 to 2020, Indian pepper exports are worth 5.5 billion rupees (US$67 million), which is the lowest level in five years. It was 17.3 billion rupees (US$200 million) during the 2015-2016 period. The United States is the largest export market for Indian pepper.

The Spice Council of India stated that Indian pepper seeds do not have a price competitive advantage: “India mainly exports pepper powder to the United States, and pepper seeds are relatively small.”

Analyst Salma said that Vietnam has recently produced more pepper than India and exported a larger volume. Vietnamese pepper is of low quality but large in quantity, so Vietnamese pepper is more dominant.

"India has been importing pepper from Vietnam at a lower price and then selling it all over the world." He added that India's pepper production is likely to decline further in 2020-21.

In recent years, the export value of fennel has also been declining. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, India exported 2.3 billion rupees (27 million U.S. dollars) worth of fennel; in 2016-17, Indian fennel exports reached 173 billion rupees (40 million U.S. dollars).

Indian spices are sold to 180 countries and regions around the world.