The Hindu Business Line : Pepper futures rebound

Kochi April 16 The pepper futures market bounced back on insider information that the decision to introduce increased margin for both buyers and sellers has been deferred. As a result, the prices of all contracts moved up sharply.

In the international market, Vietnam was said to be slightly softer. Short sellers were reportedly covering. 500 GL was quoted at $3,150-$3,200 while 550 GL was at $3,300-$3,350 a tonne (f.o.b).

Indonesia is said to have quoted Lampung Asta at $3,950 a tonne (c&f). As the Indian rupee has become stronger against the dollar, Indian parity has gone up to around $4,000 a tonne (c&f).

April contract on NCDEX on Monday shot up by Rs 365 a quintal to Rs 15,460 last Saturday. The increase in other contracts was from Rs 469 to Rs 533 a quintal.

On NMCE, April contract matured and 261 tonnes delivered. May contract went up by 679 tonnes to 15,300 a quintal at last weekend-close. The rise in other contracts was from Rs 63 to Rs 614 a quintal.

The total turnover on NCDEX dropped by 2,462 tonnes to 39,321 tonnes, while on NMCE it moved up by 1,978 tonnes to 7,774 tonnes.

Open interests

The total open interest on NCDEX fell by 2,400 tonnes to 33,851 tonnes on Monday. April position was down by 205 tonnes to 1,264 tonnes as maturity is nearing. May and June positions also declined by 1,734 tonnes and 621 tonnes respectively to 17,592 tonnes and 10,126 tonnes.

On NMCE, the total open interest declined by 100 tonnes to 4,307 tonnes. May position was down by 35 tonnes to 2,782 tonnes.

Domestic buyers are said to have scaled down operations on reports of increase in margins. Meanwhile, the local arm of the MNCs were delivering as they are said to be unable to sell in the international market as "we are out-priced now," market observers told Business Line.

Spot prices in tandem with the futures market trend went up by Rs 200 a quintal on Monday to close at Rs 14,500 (un-garbled) and Rs 15,100 (MG 1).