The Hindu Business Line : Row over delivery of chilli on NCDEX

Mumbai June 12 Problems have cropped up with delivery of chilli on NCDEX with consignments being rejected at the exchange's warehouse in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.

"Of the 20 tonnes of chilli delivered at the NCDEX warehouse in Guntur, 10 tonnes were rejected. The complaint was that the moisture content was 0.25 per cent higher over the permissible limit of 12.5 per cent. I had to take it back and re-transport it after drying it at least six times before being able to deliver 5 tonnes and incurring a loss of Rs 1.7 lakh," said Mr Gautam Bajaj, director, Sankeswara Spices.

Despite repeated attempts, Mr Ravi Kumar, MD, NCDEX could not be contacted. The exchange recently changed chilli contract specifications in terms of seed content and acceptability of broken chilli.

"I wanted to deliver about 300 tonnes, but they accepted only 50 tonnes. We do not have any gadget to check quality. The exchange should understand our problems or we will lose the confidence in the exchange," said a trader.

Dipping volume

The volume of chilli traded on the exchange was down from 17,430 tonnes on June 2 to 7,525 tonnes on June 12. Similarly, the contracts traded has declined from 3,486 tonnes on June 2 to 1,348 tonnes on Tuesday. Though the volume and contracts traded do not reflect the quantity of rejects, it showed the waning interest of the farmers, said another trader.

"I agree that the exchange had problems about quality last year, but that is not the case this year. Some buyers of the goods (rejected by NCDEX) in the open market said there is no issue concerning quality," said Mr Sanjay Reddy, a Guntur-based chilli trader.

Suggesting a way out of the tangle, Mr Bajaj said: "The exchange should obtain a second opinion from a private testing laboratory before rejecting large quantities."

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Row over delivery of chilli on NCDEX

NMCE launches new soya oil, chana contracts

`Heat low' builds to drive monsoon into north

Seafood industry hit by rising rupee

Imports hit domestic areca prices

Spot rubber declines on lack of demand

Jairam Ramesh to discuss reopening of tea gardens

Make cottonseed an essential commodity, AP urges Centre

Pepper futures drop on market uncertainty

Removal of VAT on copra hailed

`Gold will need a new catalyst to challenge $700/oz '

Former UPASI chief dead