Barley prices dropped marginally on heavy arrivals in the spot markets. Besides, it took cues from the overseas markets that were down on higher productivity and poor export demand.
On the NCDEX, barley October contracts slid by 0.08 per cent at Rs 1,188 a quintal, while the November and December series were down by 0.4 per cent at Rs 1,237 and Rs 1,281 respectively.
The total coarse cereal production is expected at 26.33 million tonnes this kharif season (2012-13) against 32.26 mt in 2011-12 kharif. This could mean that prices could remain low as the new crop arrives, but would go up as the crop is down by close to 6 mt.
Mandis across Rajasthan, the top grower of the bold cereal, witnessed an arrival of 120 tonnes and in the Jaipur spot market, barley was quoting Rs 1,219 a quintal.
On the global front, prices in the US on CBOT continue to decline even as the new crop arrived. There is also an indication that productivity is slightly higher than anticipated and this could be one of the factors keeping prices more or less stable. Prices for the benchmark CBOT December contract have dropped 4.3 per cent during the three-session losing streak, their biggest three-day decline in two months. CBOT December wheat was at $8.47-3/4 a bushel.