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
December 5, 2025
ASTA is working diligently to seek clarity whether spices newly added to Annex II are exempt from India’s 25% Russian oil tariffs. CBP has advised importers should continue to pay these, but ASTA's counsel believes these spices should be exempt from such tariffs in addition to the exemption from the reciprocal tariff. The CBP Office of the Commissioner has advised ASTA a ruling will happen soon.
Among the repurcussions of Sri Lanka's devestating Cyclone Ditwah are heavy delays in trans-shipments of containers from southern India.
Pepper
As the of buying from last week abated - particularly from China - Vietnamese offers eased, and Brazil soon followed the trend. U.S. imports from Vietnam this year are down about 30%, while their overall decline of exports was approximately 8%. With this backdrop, their market continues to be highly susceptible to market volatility. Vietnam's export decline in calendar 2025 would have had a greater downtrend but was offset by their substantial increase in imports from Brazil as they continue to shift to more of a focus on value-added/processed pepper.
Other Spices:
Good crops out of Egypt and Finland on CARAWAY are putting pressue on the market - Canada is notably absent. Now JHE is getting more favorable reports about the Indian CARDAMOM crop which may be why activity is limited despite the second yearly bad Guatemalan harvest; yet Indian offers are hovering above Guatemala's levels. Both China and India are harvesting satisfactory GINGER crops and are offering at levels at or below the previous season. Rains in Gujarat reduced the Indian white ONION production by about 20%, but their freight rates are lower. Egypt will soon be harvesting OREGANO; it is too soon to tell if it will be a large enough production to impact the continuing strong market. PIMENTO is active. Spot Indian Hulled SESAME inventories are limited.
JHE IS NOW USDA ORGANIC CERTIFIED