The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures decline on lack of buying support

Pepper futures market declined on Friday for want of buying support from both domestic and international markets. There was no selling pressure in the spot.

According to some US brokers, Indian exporters currently visiting the US are said to have offered black pepper at "ridiculously low prices" ($2,535 a tonne (c&f) as they have stocks which they wanted to liquidate, market observers told Business Line on Friday.

This has also contributed to the decline in the futures as buyers were holding back for prices to drop.

When the futures prices drop below spot prices, exporters take delivery from the national exchanges and export. Therefore, they are waiting for prices in the futures to fall.

In the international market, Brazil was offering $2,350- $2,400 a tonne, while Vietnam is said to have started offering 500 GL and 550 GL in small lots.

On NCDEX, the January contract was down by Rs 190 a quintal to close at Rs 11,040 on Friday. On NMCE it fell by Rs 104 a quintal to Rs 11,040.

The decline on NCDEX was from Rs 78 to Rs 297 a quintal for other positions, while on NMCE it was from Rs 120-283 a quintal.

The total turnover on NCDEX was down by 3,382 tonnes to 20,877 tonnes. On NMCE, it declined by 275 tonnes to 3,527 tonnes on Friday.

The total open interest on NCDEX dropped by 235 tonnes on Friday to 3,262 tonnes. February position was also down by 384 tonnes to 9,040 tonnes. Total net open position showed a decline of 512 tonnes to 23,349 tonnes.

On NMCE, total open interest was up by 89 tonnes to 4,545 tonnes.

Spot prices which was ruling steady during the week declined by Rs 100 a quintal in tandem with the futures market trend to Rs 10,600 (un-garbled) and Rs 11,200 (MG-1) on Friday.