Spot pepper prices continued to seek new highs on strong demand amid tight supply. On the other hand, buyers on the national and regional exchange platforms are willing to pay higher prices, though there were no sellers.

The industry, which did not cover earlier, is running around buying whatever is available at the prevailing price. There has been no arrival because of the holidays and non-availability of workers, growers said. Primary market dealers in Idukki said Tamil Nadu-based dealers were buying at ₹675 a kg from the growers on cash and carry basis, market sources told Business Line .

Meanwhile, Karnataka was offering at ₹700 a kg on payment in cash in advance but no buyers were ready, following raid by sales tax authorities, trade sources said. Farmers are hoping that the prices would touch ₹1,000 a kg. According to the trade, the pipelines of end users in the upcountry markets are empty and hence demand is expected to pick up in the coming days.

No trading activities were reported from the national and regional exchanges even though there were buyers at higher levels. On the spot, prices shot up by ₹4,500 a quintal to close at ₹65,000 (ungarbled) and ₹67,000 (garbled) a quintal. Indian export prices soared to historic high levels of $12,000 a tonne c&f for Europe and $12,250 c&f for the US following the rise in prices coupled with weakening of the rupee against the dollar.

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