The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures soar on tight supply

All the positions on NCDEX and NMCE witnessed substantial increase. The increase at the former was from Rs 179 to Rs 212 a quintal while at the latter it was from Rs 112 to Rs 167 a quintal.

The Jul contract on NCDEX went up by Rs 211 a quintal to close at Rs 7,660 from Rs 7,449, while on NMCE it increased by Rs 152 to close at Rs 7,606 from Rs 7,454 a quintal.

There was no selling pressure. Buying interest was seen from Europe, the US and some other markets.

The tight situation appears to have influenced the other origins to push up their prices in the world market. Vietnam has raised its prices to $1,875-$1,900 a tonne (c&f), while Indonesia for its new crop to $1,825-1,850 a tonne and Brazil forward sales October/December at $1,700-1,750 (c&f). Indian parity is at $1,800-1,850 a tonne (c&f).

Short supply

The trend in the international market indicates of the short supply. The available source at present is India and hence the demand has to come here for those who have to cover Jul/Aug. However, the prices need to remain at the current competitive levels, market sources told Business Line.

The total turn over on Thursday on NCDEX showed an increase of 4,704 tonnes to 9,435 tonnes from 4,731 tonnes on Wednesday, while on NMCE it increased by 458 tonnes to 1,566 tonnes from 1,108 tonnes.

The total open interest on NCDEX was 17,055 tonnes against 16,928 tonnes, while on NMCE it was 2,979 tonnes compared to 2,983 tonnes on Wednesday.

The outstanding position on NCDEX for July and August was 4,003 tonnes and 6,880 tonnes respectively.

Domestic demand has weakened following the upsurge in the futures prices. The buyers are waiting and watching. There was no selling pressure. The spot prices also moved up in tandem with the futures by Rs 100 a quintal on Thursday to Rs 7,200 (un-garbled) and Rs 7,600 (MG 1).