The total quantity offered at the auction was 3460 kg cardamom and 898 kg black pepper of which 439.800 kg cardamom was withdrawn as the price quoted was less than the benchmark price.

Total value of the cardamom sales was Rs 14,33,756.10 while for black pepper it was Rs 2,07,138. The maximum price offered for cardamom was Rs 711 per kg whereas the minimum price offered was Rs 363 per kg. The prices for black pepper were quoted Rs 231 and Rs 230 per kg respectively.

The average price for cardamom worked out to be Rs 474.43 and Rs 230.67 per kg for cardamom and black pepper respectively.

The first auction was held on October 23 last year. Subsequently 24 more auctions were held. Against the total fresh arrivals of 91703 kg of cardamom, 81806 kg was auctioned which fetched an average price of Rs 312.97 per kg.

Accordingly 8 auctions for blackpepper were held last year which fetched an average price of Rs 223.99 per kg. The quantity sold was 9368 kg against the arrivals of 9936 kg.

Perfect Cardamom and Spices Company, the agency that holds auction at Navi Mumbai, expects to auction 1.25 lakh kg of cardamom this year, the company's managing director Mayur Desai said.

AV Thomas group offered a total of 900 kg cardamom in the categories 8mm jumbo, super green quality 7 mm bold, premium green quality and regular green quality at prices in the range of Rs 705-711, Rs 555-585, Rs 460-480 and Rs 422-424 per kg respectively.

Similarly Mutthucard Estate offered 2100 kg cardamom in the categories 7mm bold, manam bold, robin, panbar and sick bulk at the prices of Rs 515-519, Rs 421-424, Rs 391, Rs 387 and Rs 404 respectively.

The auctions for both the spices will be held every monday till Diwali, after which it will be scheduled for Thursday.