General Otulook:

October 6, 2004

Cumin
No significant changes and prices even weaker in the last week. Demand has been slow for Turkish cumin as exporters here competing with neighbour origin Syria.

Anise
Very weak and at attractive price levels. We assume this level is at bottom and it might be very attractive to cover at this moment for the nice grade Turkish cumin with good Volatile Oil levels.

Blue Poppy
Steady price levels. We only forsee a firmer market when origins as Eastern Europe becomes less attractive in price levels. For the moment Turkey still competing and has difficulties to sell.

Fennel
As new crop fully available prices have declined since the start of the new crop, end of August. Firmer market as usual expected after January / February `05 when most of the time the good quality becomes more scarce and difficult to obtain. For the time being we expect prices to stay between the 900 – 1000 US$ FOB Izmir.

Fennugreek
Stable and weak. Not much interest for Turkish Fennugreek. Most buyers prefer Indian due to lower price levels.

Sesame
New crop harvested and full crop available. That is why price levels are somewhat weaker in the last weeks. We expect no change. Turkish Sesame seeds often a desired quality for specific buyers due to the nice `golden` colour and suppliers are able to make a well cleaned purity up to 99.5%

Bay (Laurel) Leaves
It seems that demand for different grades has changed. As the food industry seems to be more interested in the FAQ, Semi Select and Cut & Sifted Quality mainly for grinding purpose. The interest in the high grades such as Hand Select is decreasing each season. Exporters not willing to produce Hand Selected grades if no contract made in advance. It just has become to expensive to carry stocks being unsold. Demand for FAQ and Semi Select pressed in bales is high and therefore we will see a firm market for these grades during the whole season with prices to stay between the 1600 – 1900 level depending on the quality / purity.

Oregano
Depending on the demand for Oregano in the coming months we might see a slightly firmer market. On the other hand exporters have good stocks and if no sales created prices may stay at steady levels. For sure we do not expect a downward trend for the Pure Botanical Quality Grades with a Volatile Oil level of Min. 1.5% and higher.

Sage
The `Salvia Officinalis` became scarce this season due to cutting restriction in certain area and it was a fact that just little quantity has been collected this season. As new crop only in July 2005 we forsee a total `sold out` situation later on in the season. Very cheap grades or adulturated grades might still be available but we advise buyers to be carefull with that.

Sun Dried Tomatoes
Exporters are shipping their contracts either in bulk or packed in retail jars. Sun drying has stopped since mid September. Stocks available but prices are fully depending on the grade, package, quantity required and shipment periode. Please contact us for detailed quotations.

Capers
We are having the lowest price level periode since the last 10 years with prices for the different calibrations coming so close to each other. We forsee weak market for larger calibrations but there might be some firmer prices for Nonpareille and Surfines in the second half of the season as we are getting the indication that quantity harvested / stocks for these sizes seems to be at lower levels.