The spices trade in general and the pepper in particular has been hit badly by the withdrawal limit, according to primary market traders. There were buyers for high range pepper at Rs66,500 a quintal while the sellers were at Rs67,500 a quintal.

At present only the old pepper is in the market but from mid-December ginger and the new pepper will start trickling in and by then the trade should have enough funds, Mr Kishor Shamji, a veteran exporter told Business Line.

He said the worst hit are the growers and traders of the cash crops which should have been considered separately given its specific nature. It is handled by mostly small and medium traders and growers, he said.

Making not available sufficient currencies especially in small denominations gives the impression that the banking sector has failed to handle the situation,which in turn might defeat the very objective of the demonetisation programme, many in the trade alleged.

Consequently, no trading has taken place in the pepper today also.

There was neither any arrival nor any off take.

Spot prices remained unchanged at Rs65,200 (ungarbled) and Rs68,200 (garbled) a quintal.

December contract on the IPSTA moved up by Rs1,000 a quintal to close at Rs67,000 while January and February stayed steady at Rs59,000 and 56,000 a quintal respectively.

Indian export prices were at $10,450 a tonne cf for Europe and $10,700 a tonne cf for USA. e.o.m.

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