The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures rebound on buying support

February contract on NCDEX moved up by Rs 311 a quintal to close at Rs 12,431 on Tuesday. The increase in other contracts was from Rs 251 a quintal to Rs 345.

Better performance

On NMCE, however, February contract declined by Rs 6 a quintal to close at Rs 11,945. Other contracts except July moved up from Rs 197 a quintal to Rs 332. July contract dropped by Rs 10 a quintal.

Turnover drops

The total turnover on NCDEX on Tuesday dropped by 1,520 tonnes to 22,308 tonnes. On NMCE, the turnover moved up by 124 tonnes to 4,493 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX dropped by 337 tonnes to 27,792 tonnes. February position fell by 407 tonnes to 2,260 tonnes while March dropped by 118 tonnes to 15,428 tonnes.

On NMCE, total open interest declined by 55 tonnes to 4,802 tonnes of which March position had 4,057 tonnes.

Speculation

According to market observers, excessive speculation hurts the real price recovery mechanism in the futures market. They said that the regulator should look into this phenomenon in the interest of the trade.

The spot prices on good demand moved up by Rs100 a quintal to Rs11,700 (un-garbled) and Rs 12,300 (MG 1) on Tuesday.

In the international market the buyers are silent. They are waiting for the Vietnamese crop to arrive in the market, which might begin next month. However, the supply position is expected to be tight this year.

International reports project a decline in the production in all the producing countries and the 2007 availability is estimated at 2.7 lakh tonnes as against 2.8 lakh tonnes last year and 3.1 lakh tonnes in 2005 and 3.95 lakh tonnes the year before.