The Hindu Business Line : Uncertainty dogs pepper futures

A sharp fall was witnessed in the turnover on NCDEX and NMCE. On NCDEX, it fell by 77,206 tonnes to 1,41,349 tonnes, while on NMCE, it dropped by 6,621 tonnes to 13,198 tonnes.

Total open interest moved up by 1,465 tonnes on NCDEX to 26,943 tonnes. June position fell by 1,847 tonnes to 10,215 tonnes, while July and August increased by 1,347 tonnes and 1,819 tonnes respectively to 10,542 tonnes and 4,275 tonnes.

On NMCE, total open interest went up by 249 tonnes to 3,563 tonnes. June position increased by 182 tonnes to 2,592 tonnes during the week.

Spot prices fell by Rs 100 a quintal to Rs 13,700 (un-garbled) and Rs 14,300 (MG 1) at Saturday close. Meanwhile, distant positions showed a substantial fall on Saturday on the futures markets. The downward trend in the futures market in India is closely watched by Brazil and Vietnam. Intra-day trade has been keeping the futures market highly volatile, which needs to be controlled by the regulators, market sources said.

Besides, the restrictions on nearby positions would totally hamper the export trade. If the revised quantity restriction is enforced the investing community might get out of the trade, they pointed out. An uncertainty is prevailing in the market and hence, the genuine investors should wait and watch before making any investment in the commodity, they warned.

IPC REPORT

According to International Pepper Community (IPC) report for the week ended June 1, the world pepper market was quiet. Prices at most origins declined slightly with limited activity. At Kochi, the price of un-garbled black pepper declined to Rs 13,700 a quintal from Rs 14,300 at the last week's close.

Trading activity on the commodity exchanges was slower and on average, prices down by 2-3 per cent compared to last week.

At Kuching, local prices decreased further from 10,300 Malaysian ringgit (MYR) a tonne to MYR 10,170. Compared to last week, the price fell 3 per cent.

In Lampung, the market continued to be very quiet and local prices fell by around 4 per cent. New crop is likely to be delayed and come into the market by August.

There was no price report received from Ho Chi Minch City. At Daklak however, the price for raw materials was up to the level of 52,000 Vietnamese dong (VND) a kg from VND 50,000 at the end of last week. It was reported that prices of Vietnamese and Brazilian black were at $3,915 and $3,800 a tonne f.o.b respectively.

WHITE PEPPER

In general, the market was quiet and trading was limited. In Bangka, local prices eased by 2 per cent and in Sarawak eased marginally by 1 per cent.

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