The Hindu Business Line : Liquidation pulls down pepper

Kochi, Dec. 6 The pepper futures market on Thursday witnessed a sharp fall on selling pressure as the bulls started liquidating their positions for want of overseas demand while the bears were pressing the prices down further.

The reported aggressive selling by Indonesia at $3,300 a tonne (c&f) for nearby shipments also contributed to the fall, market sources here told Business Line.

Besides, the December contract is nearing maturity on Dec 15 and 20.

Indian parity dropped to $3,550 a tonne (c&f) and yet remained out-priced.

Brazil was offering B Asta at $3,100-$3,150 a tonne (f.o.b.) while B1 560 GL at $3,000-3,100 and B2 500 GL at $2,900-3,050 a tonne (f.o.b.).

However, there was no selling pressure on spot.

CONTRACT POSITION

December contract on NCDEX on Thursday fell by Rs 316 to Rs 12,921.

The fall in other contracts was from Rs 340 to Rs 476 a quintal.

On NMCE December contract dropped by Rs 319 to Rs 12,900. The drop in other contracts was from Rs 286 to Rs 400 a quintal.

Turnover declines

Total turnover on NCDEX declined by 116 tonnes to 13,581 tonnes, while that of December dropped by 12 per cent. January turnover went up by 78 per cent.

On NMCE, total turnover moved up by 125 tonned to 1,507 tonned.

Total open interest on NCDEX increased by 705 tonned to 20,044 tonned.

December position declined by 25 per cent, while January increased by 53 per cent. On NMCE, total open interest declined by 74 tonned to 1,530 tonned.

Spot prices in tandem with the futures market trend dropped by Rs 200 a quintal on Thursday to close at Rs 12,600 (un-garbled) and Rs 13,200 (MG 1).