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G. K. Nair

Kochi, March 17 Bearish activities pulled down the pepper futures market on Monday even as the fundamentals were not supporting it.

The pushing down of the market is said to be under the influence of the sharp fall in the stock market. There was no spot selling pressure.

The rupue weakened against the dollar because of the influence of the stock market decline. Indian parity remained at $3,900 -3,950 a tonne (c&f) as a result Indian pepper is now more competitive hence demand is likely to come to India. All other origins are above our parity, market sources told Business Line.

Vietnam was slightly better, according to unconfirmed reports.

Turn over volumes are coming down as small players are loosing confidence in the futures market because of alleged “market manipulations”, they said.

Harvesting in Karnataka is in full swing and black pepper consignments from Chickmagalur and Sakleshpur are being moved out to north Indian markets by selected operators evading tax.

March contract on NCDEX dropped by Rs 172 a quintal on Monday to Rs 14,750. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 74 to Rs 189 a quintal.

On NMCE, March contract matured and 178 tonnes of pepper were delivered. April contract fell by Rs 104 a quintal to Rs 15,080. The fall in other contacts except June was from Rs 69 to Rs 89 a quintal. June moved up by Rs 4 a quintal.

Total turnover on NCDEX moved up by 1,061 tonnes to close at 12,525 tonnes, while on NMCE it went up by 633 tonnes to 1,596 tonnes.

Total open interest on NCDEX declined by 173 tonnes to 20,278 tonnes. March and April positions declined by 11 per cent and 60 per cent, while May moved up by 24 per cent. On NMCE, total open interest moved up by 178 tonnes to 1,611 tonnes.

Spot prices ruled steady at previous levels at Rs 14,300 (un-garbled) and Rs 14,900 (MG 1) a quintal on Monday.

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