The Hindu Business Line : Speculation keeps pepper futures hot

Kochi March 13 The pepper futures market on Tuesday moved up on speculative activities following rumours of delay in shipping of the commodity from Vietnam.

Marketfed, the Kerala Government procurement agency, on Tuesday sold 100 tonnes of pepper held by it at Rs 11,250 a quintal.

On NCDEX, March contract moved up by Rs 71 a quintal to close at Rs 11,770 on Tuesday from Rs 11,699. The increase in other contracts is from Rs 53 to Rs 123 a quintal.

On NMCE, March contract improved by Rs 62 a quintal to close at Rs 11,225 from Rs 11,163. The rise in other contracts was from Rs 104 to Rs 207 a quintal.

Turnover rises

The total turnover on NCDEX moved up by 3,611 tonnes to 22,922 tonnes, while on NMCE it went up by 394 tonnes to 2,642 tonnes.

Total open interest on NCDEX declined by 193 tonnes to 29,417 tonnes. March position fell by 864 tonnes to 5,648 tonnes while April by 72 tonnes to 11,939 tonnes.

On NMCE, total open interest fell by 1,553 tonnes to 3,490 tonnes. March position fell by 1,678 tonnes to 351 tonnes.

The spot prices moved up by Rs 100 a quintal to close at Rs 11,200 (un-garbled) and Rs 11,800 (MG 1) on Tuesday.

International market ruled steady and the players are on a wait and watch mode, as they do not seem to disturb the market at this stage. Hence they have deferred buying from any other origin probably till the Vietnam prices decline, market observers told Business Line.

Meanwhile, there is good domestic demand. But, it is met directly from the primary markets. As a result there are virtually no arrivals at the terminal markets. If this trend continued, next year there may not be any terminal markets for pepper here, they claimed.