Pepper prices ruled steady on limited activities on both the national and regional exchanges. On the spot also, activities were limited keeping the market steady. Only two tonnes were traded in April contracts on the national exchange, while the May contract was not traded. No selling pressure was seen from the southern districts of Kerala where the crop is claimed to be good. The trend from other regions was also similar. Very small volumes of new pepper were trickling in from Karnataka and that is indicative of a small crop, market sources told Business Line.

Arrivals continued to remain thin. Only 40 tonnes were traded on the spot at ₹509-525 a kg. At the same time, good upcountry demand was felt. Tamil Nadu-based dealers were actively covering from the high ranges on cash-and-carry basis. On the NMCE, April contract decreased by ₹740 to ₹53,500 a quintal. While on the regional exchange active contracts remained unchanged with very little activities. Spot prices stayed steady at ₹50,900 (ungarbled) and ₹52,900 (garbled) a quintal. Export prices were at $8,775-8,800 c&f Europe and $9,025-9,050 a tonne c&f US.

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