Thoothukudi salt pans bit by price slide amid high output

MADURAI: Salt production in Thoothukudi, the largest producer in Tamil Nadu, is coming to a grinding halt this year after recent rains.

The production has almost come to a standstill in about 70 percent of salt pans. Production is expected to turn nil by the end of the second week of October with the onset of the northeast monsoon. Production this year was better than the last, said SKCN Dharmaraj, a salt manufacturer cum merchant from Thoothukudi.

According to ARAS Dhanabalan, former secretary, Thoothukudi Small Scale Salt Manufacturers Association, the production season is wrapping up anyway in a week as the onset of full moon (pournami). The manufactured salt increased by 10 percent over last year. On its market value, he said, salt price has dropped this year unlike the previous year when a tonne fetched a maximum of Rs 3,000. Price of a tonne of manufactured salt ranges from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000, depending on its quality, this year. As the demand for Thoothukudi salt is falling, its price is seeing a slide. He called upon the industry to find solutions to the problems of slowing demand and price deflation.

Erratic rains last year triggered a 40% shortfall in production, said MP Dileep, a salt producer. Rainfall in the early days of this month has not only affected the production, but the quality as well. He said the price of salt was abnormally high during last year because of an acute shortage. But this year the market is expected to gain fresh demands from the middle of October, he said.

Demand for edible salt is not as great as that of refined salt, said MSP Thenraja, head, Tuticorin Salt Merchants Association. Refined salt is meant for usage in refineries.