The Hindu Business Line : Good scope for MG 1 pepper exports

Kochi, March 23 The Indian pepper prices continued to remain below that of other origins during the week, placing the Indian commodity at an advantageous position among its counterparts.

Non-availability of spot pepper has forced the exporters to cover from the exchanges where the price for March remained below the spot. Exchange prices were declining during the week on selling pressure. All contracts on NCDEX during the week dropped by Rs 138 to Rs 207 a quintal, while on NMCE it was up from Rs 59 to Rs 103 a quintal except for July contract, which moved up by Rs 154 a quintal. The total turnover on NCDEX has shown a sharp fall of 33,478 tonnes during the week to close at 43,688 tonnes. On NMCE it fell by 3,215 tonnes to 5,616 tonnes.

Total open interest on NCDEX dropped by 791 tonnes to 19,660 tonnes. March and April positions fell by 1,334 tonnes and 904 tonnes respectively, while May moved up by 1,420 tonnes. However, on NMCE the total open interest moved up by 178 tonnes to 1,789 tonnes.

Spot prices during the week remained unchanged at previous weekend’s close of Rs 14,300 (un-garbled) and Rs 14,900 (MG 1). Prices of other origins ruled almost firm at higher levels. Indian parity remained at $3,900-$3,950 a tonne (c&f). Indonesian LAsta ruled above $4,150 a tonne (c&f) while Vietnam Asta grade was above $4,300 a tonne (c&f). The other grades such 500 GL and 550 GL in Vietnam were also quoted at higher levels even though there was a marginal decline.

Competitive price

As the supply of heavy pepper (Asta grade) from Vietnam, where harvesting is on, continues to be tight and as a result even multi-origin operators were trying to buy MG 1 from India. Vietnam farmers release their produce at regulated manner, which seems to be the strategy that they experimented last year and turned out to be successful, so as to sustain the prices at higher levels and avert any sharp fall. 0The availability of black pepper, especially the Asta grade, in other origins such as Brazil and Indonesia is also reportedly limited. Thus, India, besides Vietnam, is the only other source having pepper of this grade and at a most competitive price.

Therefore, there is a good potential for demand coming to India in the coming weeks for MG 1. White pepper prices also continued to rule high in the world market on short supply.

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