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
March 27, 2026
The continued disruption at the Straight of Hormuz has sent fuel prices to recent high levels. Gas, LNG and diesel are used for trucking, processing, sterilization and shipping in our supply chains. Almost all origins are reporting challenges obtaining vessel bookings, reroutings, and increasing freight rates and surcharges. Some origins are also having limited availability of containers as a result of disruption of normal flows of supply chains.
Pepper
Vietnam's pepper prices continued to ease despite the ascending freight and fuel expenses. It is one of the few spices where the market softening has more than offset other cost advances. Ample new crop arrivals along with the disrupted Middle Eastern demand are the combined cause. Striking is that Brazil's market has eased only slightly. Many Vietnamese shippers feel we are approaching a bottom and that the impact of arrivals will soon dissipate even if the conflict lasts for some time longer. Buyers are looking to cover later positions at pricing parallel to nearby offers, but that request is meeting resistance.
Other Spices:
While activity is limited, asking prices for many spices at origins have strengthened because of energy costs; India's sterilization schedules are disrupted because of limited availability of LNG. But some spice markets have eased despite the increase in base expenses. ALLSPICE origins are pressing to clear out stocks even though their harvests are still a few months out. CARDAMOM has slightly weakened as it is particularly impacted by a disruption in Middle Eastern demand. Spot stocks of CHAMOMILE and HIBISCUS are tight. Reduced tariff levels have been particularly apparent in our imported GARLIC market.
JHE IS NOW USDA ORGANIC CERTIFIED