The pepper market continued to show an uptrend on buying interest amid limited availability on Friday. The first two active contracts moved up while the third showed a slight decline.
No physical pepper was available on the spot either in Kerala or Karnataka. As December was selling below spot, stakeholders stayed away from the ready market.
As the pipelines in the domestic market are believed to be empty, demand started trickling in from several directions, market sources told
There were no arrivals from the primary markets and the new crop is expected to arrive from mid-December, they said.
December contract on the NCDEX increased by Rs 380 a quintal to close at Rs 38,495 a quintal while February moved up by Rs 50 to close at Rs 35,275 a quintal. March declined by Rs 40 to close at Rs 34,640 a quintal.
Turnover
Total turnover increased by 941 tonnes to close at 3,920 tonnes. Total open interest decreased by 164 tonnes to close at 8,003 tonnes. There were some profit booking and liquidation.
Dec open interest fell by 209 tonnes to close at 6,318 tonnes while that of Feb moved up by 53 tonnes to close at 1,308 tonnes. March dropped by three tonnes to 323 tonnes.
Spot prices in tandem with the futures market trend increased by RS200 a quintal to close at Rs37,700 (ungarbled) and Rs39,200 (MG 1) a quintal on limited availability.
Indian parity in the international market was at $7,250 a tonne (c&f) for the Europe and $7,550 a tonne (c&f) for the USA .Weakening of the rupee against the dollar has made a good effect on the Indian parity.
At the current levels some demand is expected from select markets overseas, which prefer Malabar over other origins even at a premium, they claimed. Indonesia was said to be offering at $6,900 - $7,000 a tonne (fob), they said.