Pepper recovers despite selling

Pepper futures continued its recovery on Thursday on bullish activities, despite liquidation and selling pressure from Karnataka and the plains of Kerala.

On the other hand, the additional margin introduced from May 27 has made the medium and small players reluctant to buy, and, instead, they were liquidating.

“Reverse badla” is slowly narrowing down. The bulls are switching over as it is favourable for them. But for the short position holders it is not good.

On the spot, pressure from Karnataka is influencing Kasargode and Wayanad primary markets to sell. The school re-opening and college admissions have led to the selling pressure on the spot, market sources told Business Line.

June contract on the NCDEX declined by Rs7 to close at Rs 29,174 a quintal. However, the last traded price was up by Rs 8 a quintal to 29,189. July and August moved up by Rs 143 and Rs 159, respectively, to close at Rs 28,998 and Rs 29,087 a quintal.

Total turn over

Total turn over dropped by 5,294 tonnes to 5,417 tonnes. Total open interest also fell by 142 tonnes to 14,467 tonnes showing good liquidation.

June open interest dropped by 397 tonnes, while that of July and August moved up by 162 tonnes and 85 tonnes, respectively, to close at 2,739 tonnes and 797 tonnes.

Spot prices on selling pressure remained unchanged at previous levels of Rs 27,000 (ungarbled) and Rs 27,800 (MG 1) a quintal.

Indian parity in the international market was at $6,725 a tonne (c&f) and remained out priced. But, according to market sources, at this price the material can be sold on the exchange platform and there are buyers. 3,628 tonnes of pepper are reported to have been traded of June today. “We have our own huge domestic market,” they claimed.