Pepper futures on Thursday declined marginally on liquidation and correction.

Besides, activities were limited due to the financial year closing.

Some of those who took delivery of March and holding valid stock were booking some profit.

Some were offering March delivery valid stock at Rs 2 to 3 per kg below April price but the buyers were asking discount at Rs 4 to 5 a kg, market sources told Business Line .

There was good liquidation which led to the decline in the market.

No selling pressure

No selling pressure was there in the spot market, they said.

April contract on NCDEX declined by Rs 80 to close at Rs 23,634 a quintal. May and June contracts dropped by Rs 49 and 32 respectively to close at Rs 23,925 and Rs 24,245 a quintal.

Total turnover dropped by 1,596 tonnes to 5,094 tonnes. Total open interest dropped by 224 tonnes to 11,073 tonnes showing good liquidation.

April open interest dropped by275 tonnes to 8,831 tonnes while that of May and June moved up by 22 tonnes and 31 tonnes respectively to 1,900 tonnes and 229 tonnes.

Spot prices

Spot prices remained unchanged at previous levels on thin activities at Rs 22,100 (ungarbled) and Rs 22,900 (MG 1) a quintal.

Indian parity in the international market was at 5,450-5,475 a tonne (c&f). The currency factor has influenced the price as the rupee continued to be stronger against the dollar.

Firmer trend

Meanwhile, Vietnam has been showing a bit firmer trend following good reported buying from China apart from the reluctance of the growers there who are not showing any interest to sell at lower levels, they said.