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G. K. Nair

Kochi, March 24 Pepper Futures market on Monday fell sharply on bearish activities based on reports that tight supply situation in Vietnam had eased.

There was no spot selling. Indian parity remained at $3,900-3,950 a tonne (c&f). Vietnam was not offering any Asta grade. However, 500 GL was quoted at $3,600 and 550 GL at $3,800 at tonne (f.o.b.).

Vietnam-based multinational companies having base in India are also said to have taken delivery of 300–400 tonnes of black pepper from the exchange warehouses and transported directly to the containers for shipping out to Vietnam. It will be sterilized there and re-exported from as the processing cost is cheaper there. This shows the real shortage of quality pepper in Vietnam, market sources here told Business Line. And yet, the Indian prices are falling, they said.

Meanwhile, large quantity of pepper was being moved out to North Indian markets, mainly Delhi, from Karnataka by selected group of operators evading tax, they alleged.

April contract on NCDEX dropped by Rs 379 a quintal on Monday to Rs 14,830. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 95 to Rs 403 a quintal.

On NMCE, April contract fell by Rs 373 a quintal to close at Rs 14,710. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 131 to Rs 378 a quintal.

Total turnover on NCDEX moved up by 1,111 tonnes to 10,194 tonnes, while that on NMCE increased by 661 tonnes to 1,545 tonnes.

Total open interest on NCDEX declined by 74 tonnes to 18,518 tonnes. April position dropped by 59 per cent, while May and June went up by 33 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

On NMCE, total open interest increased by 116 tonnes to 1,905 tonnes.

Spot prices in tandem with the futures market trend dropped by Rs 100 a quintal on Monday to close at Rs 14,200(un-garbled) and Rs 14,800 (MG 1).

According to International Pepper Community (IPC) the black pepper market last week showed a downward trend. In Vietnam, the market was quiet with limited activity and prices eased marginally by 1 per cent locally and 2 per cent f.o.b.

In Lampung, the market continued to be quiet. Prices were reported to have increased marginally by 1 per cent. In Kuching, prices were stable and in Sri Lanka, prices at pepper growing areas declined by 2 per cent.

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