Pepper traders are worried over reports of reopening the Bangladesh borders for trade any time, as they fear that the move may lead to smuggling of pepper.

According to traders, there may be a flush of smuggled Vietnam pepper into the domestic market through the Bangladesh borders as was happening prior to the closing down following the imposition of restrictions.

Traders fear that the smuggled pepper is likely to cater to the present demand arising from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, thereby hitting the prospects of domestic pepper.

Meanwhile, the Kochi pepper prices were down by ₹1 at ₹307 for ungarbled as there was no arrivals into the market on Thursday. Kishore Shamji of Kishor Spices said the market has come down because buyers are quoting lower prices, while sellers are hesitant to part with their produce/stock at the lower quote given by buyers.

According to him, the Wayanad market was mostly closed because of the lockdown after declaring Mananthawadi as a red zone. Lack of public transport and the authorities directive not to allow crowding in jeeps have impacted pepper arrivals to the primary village markets. This has also affected arrivals to the terminal market as farmers chose to remain in the comfort of their homes. Many of the primary market dealers could not procure the commodity directly from farmers.

At present, the market is in a confused mode even though it is a peak demand period, he said.

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