The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures decline

"We are the cheapest source of pepper in the world and, hence, the overseas buyers are pressurising other origins also to reduce their prices," market observers told Business Line.

All the futures contracts fell sharply on NCDEX on Wednesday.

Nov was down by Rs 319 to close at Rs 10,470 a quintal from Rs 10,789 on Tuesday.

The decline in other positions was from Rs 374 to Rs 407.

On NMCE, Nov moved up by Rs 79 to close at Rs 10,300 a quintal from Rs 10,221 on Tuesday.

However, all the other positions declined from Rs 50 to Rs 338 a quintal.

Turnover down

Total turnover on NCDEX dropped by 21,837 tonnes to 23,594 tonnes, while on NMCE, it fell by 3,561 tonnes to 4,258 tonnes.

Open interest low

The total open interest on NCDEX stood at 23,356 tonnes as against 23,394 tonnes on Tuesday, while on NMCE, it was at 5,017 tonnes compared with 4,930 tonnes.

Open interest for Nov on NCDEX dropped by 689 tonnes to close at 6,869 tonnes from 7,558 tonnes while Dec increased by 536 tonnes to close at 12,008 tonnes from 11,472 tonnes. Similarly, Jan also moved up by 155 tonnes to close at 2,399 tonnes from 2,244 tonnes.

The outstanding position for Dec on NMCE increased to 4,014 tonnes from 3,958 tonnes on Tuesday.

Spot weak

Spot pepper in tandem with the declining trend in the futures fell by Rs 300 a quintal to close at Rs 10,300 (un-garbled) and Rs 10,900 (MG 1) on Wednesday.

Market sources suggested that it was high time that the regulator needed to intervene and place cap on the wild fluctuations on both ways in the interest of the trade.