John H. Elton, Inc. Spice Brokers Global Services Since 1949
Spice & Commodity Brokers in Greenpoint (Brooklyn), New York
John H. Elton, Inc., is a full service ingredient brokerage house specializing in herbs, spices, dried fruits and nuts.
Proud Member of:
American Spice Trade Association (ASTA)
©2025 John H. Elton Inc. New York, NY USA
April 10, 2026
The fragile two week cease fire is impacting each origin and spice differently. In India restrictions remain in place for LNG for manufacturing - less so than for home use - so sterilization and roasting facilities face challenges. Commodity levels in India initially strengthened with the expectations of renewed demand, but there has already been some corrections presumably because of concerns that the peace will not hold. Pepper is dramatically impacted - further discussed below - as buyers have been anxious to quickly take advantage of the price decline that happened quickly when the initial conflict severely disrupted shipments to the Middle East. Substantial freight hikes which initially were targeted to routes originating or going through the target zones are now becoming more widespread.
Pepper
When the cease fire was initially announced midweek U.S. buyers were quickly active, looking to lock in the lower levels to which the market had sagged. Vietnams' market advanced and buyers have been willing - the levels are still below pricing before the conflict started. Also important to understand is that the pressure from new crop arrivals in Vietnam is nearing its end. In Brazil the Espirito Santo coffee crop is starting to arrive triggering producers to restrict offers of pepper; that market also firmed driven partially by the Real's recent strength against the USD. Freight bookings from Brazil are particularly difficult to obtain now.
Other Spices:
Interestingly untimely rains in India have had a particular impact on lower grades of FENNEL; pricing for better quality levels have not changed so that market is more compressed than is typical. We have reports that Europe is unusually booking quantities of MUSTARD from Canada as their plantings are down and inventories are low. Stocks of African SESAME within the U.S. are discounted from pricing of the more traditional origins. Indian TURMERIC grades of lower curcumin are strong.
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