Christmas and New Year mood seem to have gripped the black pepper market in Kochi with activities slowing down on Tuesday.

The quantity offered was limited at 12 tonnes and the average price realization was Rs330 per kg for ungarbled. The cold weather conditions in upper India also slowed down the buying activities in major trading centres. Sellers are also not forthcoming because of the delay in harvest, said Kishore Shamji of Kishor Spices.

IPSTA Cochin Pepper rate: MG1-Rs350 for garbled; ungarbled – Rs330; New pepper Rs315.

Currently, there is no pressure on sellers to sell or buyers to buy. However, a cloudy climate in the growing regions has made a delay in plucking as farmers are looking at good sunshine for four to five days for drying. The labour shortage, especially of skilled workers, is also posing a problem for pepper harvesting.

According to exporters, the holidays have slowed down the trading in the overseas markets also. Exporters are not in a hurry to sell new crop positions. There are concerns regarding crop size. The offers from Indonesia is limited due to carryover concerns. The new crop arrivals in India and Vietnam seem to be delayed due to the weather pattern.

It is expected that Vietnam exports likely to reach an all-time high of 290,000 tonnes with imports from Brazil, Indonesia and Cambodia are estimated around 45,000 to 50,000 tonnes plus carry over from previous crops which are estimated to be around 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes, they said adding that the carry overstock is awaited.

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