Pepper & spices: Trading
No global futures, just deals by origin and grade
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.Pepper has no global futures benchmark. Indian exchanges have listed pepper futures at times, and Kochi was a historic trading centre, but most trade is physical. Prices are agreed between exporters in Vietnam, India, Brazil and Indonesia and the large grinders and spice companies of Europe and the United States, with quotes by origin and grade. The International Pepper Community, an intergovernmental body, publishes reference prices. The trade has old roots: Morgan notes that Bunge had traded hides, spices and rubber for a century before 1850.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Spice blenders and food makers in the US (23.4% of world HS 0904 import value in 2024), China (11.2%), Germany (5.5%), Thailand (5.3%) and Spain (4.5%) (UN Comtrade)
- Gulf importers buy small cardamom; China, Bangladesh and Thailand buy Indian chilli
- Indian oleoresin makers import raw pepper and chilli for processing
Where it is sold (sellers)
- India (29.3% of HS 0904 export value in 2024), China (19.7%), Spain (7.2%), Indonesia (6.5%) and Brazil (6.0%) (UN Comtrade)
- Vietnam's pepper exporters ship bulk grades to the US, Europe and China
- Guatemala sells cardamom to the Gulf
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NCDEX | Jeera (cumin), turmeric and coriander futures | main Indian futures for spices |
| Spices Board e-auctions | Small cardamom auctions at Puttady (Kerala) and Bodinayakanur (Tamil Nadu) | price discovery for Indian cardamom |
| International markets | no spice futures | trade is physical, on FOB or CIF contracts |
Contract types
- Forward FOB contracts for standard grades (e.g. Vietnam 500 g/l and 550 g/l black pepper, Indian MG1 garbled)
- Annual supply agreements between processors and blenders with ASTA or EU quality specs
- Spot auction and mandi purchases in producing countries
Top trading houses
- ofi (olam food ingredients)
- Nedspice
- Vietnamese exporters such as Phuc Sinh
How prices are discovered
- Spices Board daily market prices
- NCDEX futures for jeera, turmeric and coriander
- International Pepper Community weekly prices
- Export unit values in DGCIS and UN Comtrade data