The pepper futures market opened easier on the morning of Friday, witnessed high volatility during the day and ended marginally below the previous day's closing. So much buying and selling took place in the March contract and it appeared to be by the same people. Open interest in March was down by only 22 tonnes.

Arrivals at the terminal market of new crop was virtually nil while that in the primary market was thin and whatever material arrived was picked up by Tamil Nadu-based dealers and interstate dealers who covered directly from the primary markets.

No pressure to sell

Selling pressure was absent as the growers, having sold their

old stocks at good prices, were not interested to sell the new crop which they can afford to hold back, market sources told Business Line .

In fact, nobody knows where the validity expired stocks are now as it is the only available material in the market at Rs 6 below the March delivery price.

The March contract on the NCDEX was down by Rs 27 to close at Rs 22,653 a quintal.

April and May declined by Rs 34 and Rs 80 respectively to close at Rs 22,853 and Rs 23,052 a quintal. Total turnover fell by 1,827 tonnes to close at 9,106 tonnes. Total open interest moved up by 271 tonnes indicating some additional buying.

The March open interest declined by 22 tonnes to close at 9,016 tonnes while April and May moved up by 180 tonnes and 116 tonnes respectively to 2,688 tonnes and 420 tonnes.

Spot prices on thin activities remained unchanged at previous levels of Rs 22,000 (ungarbled) and Rs 22,800 (MG 1) a quintal.

Overseas buyers were quietly watching the market trend in India and Vietnam hoping the arrivals will increase and the prices would decline in the coming days. Hence no buying interest was forthcoming. Indian parity was at $5,250 a tonne (c&f).

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