The Hindu Business Line : Tight supply in pepper holds promise

Kochi, July 15 Pepper futures market during the week declined on bearish activities, while spot prices on Saturday remained at previous weekend closing.

Compared to last Saturday, all the contracts on NCDEX dropped from Rs 98 to Rs 273 a quintal, while on NMCE except July all other contracts declined by Rs 30–31 a quintal.

Total open interest on NCDEX dropped by 273 tonnes during the week to 24,328 tonnes. July and August positions fell by 1,046 tonnes and 1,666 tonnes respectively to 2,265 tonnes and 13,045 tonnes during the weekend.

On NMCE, the total open interest during the week declined by 49 tonnes to 2,738 tonnes, while July position dropped by 938 tonnes to 515 tonnes as maturity is nearing. Total turnover during the week on NCDEX increased by 43,467 tonnes to 1,39,320 tonnes, while on NMCE it moved up by 3,279 tonnes to 10,666 tonnes.

Indian parity remained fluctuating during the week despite the fundamentals in the world market remained unchanged. As the prices for Asta grade at other origins ruled steady at higher levels, Indian parity remained competitive. As a result, some business with the US had taken place during the week. Considering the tight supply position in the world market, every decline in the futures here is advantageous for the buyers. However, quantitative restrictions were pointed out as a main hurdle. There was no selling pressure on spot pepper. Spot prices on Saturday remained at previous weekend closing at Rs 14,000 (un-garbled) and Rs 14,600 (MG 1) a quintal.