The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures hit a cold patch

Meanwhile Vietnam, which has already exported an estimated 60,000 tonnes, has raised the price of ASTA grade to $1,675 a tonne (c&f) taking it above the Indian parity of $1,650 a tonne (c&f). Weakening of Indian rupee against dollar has also brought down the Indian price.

Indonesia has quoted $1,650 a tonne but is not keen to make any forward sales, market sources told Business Line. According to the international players, Brazil was offering its new crop October - December at $1,550 a tonne.

Wrong signals

The unrealistic price of June delivery is sending out wrong signals. Some of the investors are buying at discounted prices. The June delivery was down by Rs 60 on NCDEX on Tuesday to close at Rs 6,422 from Rs 6,482 on Monday while on NMCE it dropped by Rs 87 to close at Rs 6,300 from Rs 6,387 a quintal.

The drop in all other positions on NCDEX was from Rs 64 to Rs 120, while on NMCE it was from Rs 10 to Rs 95 for all positions except for November, which moved up by Rs 207 a quintal.

The total turnover on NCDEX on Tuesday stood at 2,586 tonnes as against 1,583 tonnes on Monday. On NMCE, it was 131 tonnes against 211 tonnes the previous day.

The open interest on NCDEX on Tuesday was 18,937 tonnes as compared to 19,072 tonnes on Monday, while on NMCE it was 1,676 tonnes as against 1,964 tonnes.

The outstanding positions for June, July and August on NCDEX on Tuesday were 6,140 tonnes, 6,782 tonnes and 3,436 tonnes respectively.

There is no selling pressure in the spot also and hence the prices ruled steady at previous levels of Rs 6,500 (un-garbled) and Rs 6,900 (MG 1) a quintal.