The spot pepper market ruled steady on Wednesday, while futures contracts on the IPSTA platform rose on tight supply. However, no activities were reported from the National Multi Commodity Exchange.

On the spot, 11 tonnes of pepper were traded. Pepper from the high ranges was traded at ₹735 a kg, while the semi-processed material was sold at ₹530 a kg. The material arriving currently is mouldy, requiring processing and hence, entailing higher costs, market sources told BusinessLine .

FSSAI rules do not permit mouldy pepper, even though the USFDA permits mould up to 1 per cent, traders said.

As the monsoon settled in the northern and western States, demand has picked up after July 15, they said. Spot prices remained unchanged at ₹72,000 a quintal for ungarbled and ₹75,000 for garbled.

Indian export prices were at $12,800 a tonne (c&f for Europe) and $13,050 (c&f for the US).

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