Pepper market shot up on Monday on strong demand amid tight supply with all the contracts ending much above the previous close, while the spot hit a record Rs 33,800 (ungarbled) and Rs 35,300 (MG 1).
Spot prices shot up by Rs 400 and hit the historic levels of Rs 33,800 (ungarbled) and Rs 35,300(MG 1) a quintal.
Indian parity continued to remain competitive at $8,100 a tonne (c&f) Europe and $8,300 a tonne (c&f) US, as all the other origins were reportedly firm and ruled above MG 1.
The market opened slow and touched the lowest price in the morning session itself and then moved up by mid-forenoon and remained highly volatile and hit the highest price of the day. In the closing session, as usual, it witnessed the tug of war and dropped but closed much above the previous day closing.
Exporters, who were able to book firm orders from overseas at the previous day's rates were covering from the exchange as the material was available only there. Even some of those who could not book the orders, because of the high fluctuation in prices on the futures market coupled with apprehension on availability, said to have lost some of their “loyal customers”.
The crunch in supply of spot said to have compelled the exporters to cover from the exchange and that in turn aided the price rise, market sources told Business Line.
The stocks held in exchange warehouses might be exhausted by Dec-end or even earlier as the domestic demand would be picking up, they claimed.