NCDEX has levied an additional margin of 5 per cent on cumin seeds (jeera) and 2.5 per cent on coriander (dhaniya) due to a sharp run up prices in the last few days.

The overall margin on coriander will go up to 7.5 per cent along with the cash margin of 5 per cent, said the exchange. Prices of both these commodities have been rallying on the back of strong export demand.

The cumin seed contract for April delivery rallied 9 per cent to ₹18,255 a quintal on Wednesday from ₹16,710 recorded on March 1. Similarly, the May contract was up by a similar rate to ₹18,440 (₹16,880) a quintal.

With the levy of additional margin on Thursday, the April contract closed down by ₹300 to ₹17,955 while the May contract fell by ₹275 to ₹18,165.

Though cumin seed production in Rajasthan is expected to be high at 2.33 lakh tonnes (lt) this year against 1.68 lt last year, the recent spell of rainfall in the State seems to have ruined 30 per cent of the standing crop.

In Gujarat, cumin seed output is expected to be down 11 per cent at 2.21 lt against 2.38 lt last year due to lower acreage. The acreage in the State has fallen to 2.79 lakh hectares this year from 2.86 lakh hectares last year.

Over the past month, prices of coriander for April delivery on NCDEX have gone up by 13 per cent. It was ₹7,481 a quintal on Wednesday, from ₹6,634 on March 1, while that of May contract rose 13.55 per cent to ₹7,595.

Despite fresh margins, the April contract on Thursday was up by ₹29 to ₹7,510 while May contract jumped by ₹34 to ₹7,629 a quintal.

Veerash Hiremath, Research Analyst, Karvy Commodities, said the volatility in coriander trades has come down in last three days as market participants expect SEBI to impose some kind of restriction on trading to curb volatility.

Both cumin seeds and coriander futures would remain firm as the current margin will have a neutral impact as it is levied on both buy and sell sides, he said.

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