Clove Price Picking Up in N Sulawesi

Manado, Oct 15 (Antara) - The price of North Sulawesi primary commodity clove is picking up in the provincial city of Manado. "The price today is around Rp135,000 per kilograms in Manado and nearby areas , up from Rp130,000 last month," trader Gustav Karinda said here on Wednesday. Gustav said the price had continue to climb over the past month. "The price hike not very sharp but is enough to encourage the farmers," he said. Head of the trade department of the regional trade office Hanny Wajong said the office has continue to watch the price developments. "We have set up a price monitoring team that visits a number of trading centers to update the development everyday<" Hanny said. Another official of the trade office Olga Mokoginta attributed the price hike to shortage in supply . North Sulawesi is the country`s largest producer of clove used mainly by cigarette factories.