The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures continue to decline

The decline in pepper futures continued last week with the prices dropping by Rs 193 to Rs 308 a quintal on the exchanges on bearish activities and alleged manipulations.

Turnover

The turnover on NCDEX dropped by 165 tonnes during the last week to 72,884 tonnes. Open interest moved up by 118 tonnes to 19,883 tonnes. October position fell by 1,180 tonnes to 7,576 tonnes, while November moved up by 759 tonnes and December by 443 tonnes to 2,753 tonnes. On NMCE, the turnover dropped by 2,719 tonnes to 4,976 tonnes. Open interest increased by 206 tonnes to 2,002 tonnes. The high volatility in the market seems to have forced the overseas buyers to withdraw. Investors who were holding expired stocks had been trying to sell it at discounted prices. Exporters were buying as they found it difficult to cover from the exchanges because of the quantity restrictions. Spot prices also fell by Rs 300 a quintal during the last week to close at Rs 11,700 (un-garbled) and Rs 12,300 (MG 1) despite no selling pressure.In the international market, the prices of almost all the origins remained steady during the week.

Overseas report

An overseas report during the last week said that with reported lower pepper output in India, Vietnam, Brazil and Indonesia, the total production this year is estimated at 2,11,000 tonnes as against 2,66,000 tonnes in 2006. Besides, with the depletion of a good portion of the carry over stock, the availability in 2008 might turn out to be tight. The continuous decline in Indian prices when the fundamentals in the international market remaining unchanged is viewed by the trade world over with concern as it was influencing the prices of all the other origins.

IPC REPORT

According to International Pepper Community (IPC) report for the week, black pepper market continued to remain quiet. In India, there was trading activity mainly for November contract. Prices at local market were relatively stable compared to last week, but in dollar terms, increased by 1 per cent due to weakening of the dollar against the local currency. The spot price of un-garbled black pepper at Kochi eased during the week from Rs 11,800 a quintal to Rs 11,700 at the week's close. In Lampung, average local prices were stable at around IDR 25,000 per kg. In Vietnam, prices were reported stable. At Daklak, prices for raw material were VND 46,000 a kg this week. In Sri Lanka, price stayed at SL.Rs .329 a kg this week. In Sarawak, market was also quiet and prices eased marginally both for local and FOB. Local price for Sarawak black was MYR 9,295 a tonnes down from MYR 9,360 at beginning of the week. In dollar terms, however, average local prices of Sarawak black was stable.

WHITE PEPPER

In Bangka, local prices eased by around IDR 1,000 from IDR 39,000 a kg last week. In Sarawak, white pepper prices at local market also eased marginally from MYR 14,684 a tonnes to MYR 14,658 a tonnes at the week's close. In dollar terms, however, the price was up by 1 per cent compared to last week. F.o.b price was stable at $5,400 a tonnes this week.In Hainan, China, local and f.o.b prices eased by around 2 per cent to $4,320 a tonnes and $4,520 a tonnes respectively.

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