Pepper continues to rule hot as pipelines go empty

Pepper prices continued to scale new highs on Tuesday on strong demand amid tight supply.

More buying interest was seen and demand outstripped the supply. “All the pipelines are empty and they were actively covering directly from the primary markets,” market sources told Business Line . They said inter-State dealers especially from Tamil Nadu were also actively covering. Thus, a strong demand aided the price rise, they said.

Arrivals surged on Tuesday but the demand was higher, they said. A total of 67 tonnes of pepper were traded at ₹524-540 a kg. Rajkumari pepper fetched ₹540 while High Range material was sold at ₹530-535 . Pepper from the plains were sold at ₹524-527 because it contained high moisture and was of low bulk density, they said.

Spot pepper prices moved up by ₹200 to ₹52,400 (ungarbled) and ₹54,400 (garbled) a quintal on strong demand amid tight supply.

On the NMCE, February and March contracts increased by ₹410 and ₹585 respectively to ₹54,110 and ₹55,200 a quintal. Turnover dropped by five tonnes to four tonnes. Total net open position went up by two tonnes to 35 tonnes.

On the IPSTA, February and March contracts rose by ₹484 and ₹464 to ₹53,864 and ₹51,600 a quintal.

Market has been quiet in Vietnam on account of Tet (Chinese New Year) Holidays. Vietnamese untreated pepper was last traded at $7,500 (cf) New York while eto-treated at $7,600 (cf) New York, they said. Brazil is reported to have limited stocks of B Asta quality mostly from Expirito Santos (Southern Brazil) at $7,600 a tonne.

COMMENT NOW