Comments
A subdued demand has impacted pepper prices in Kochi as it registered a Rs1/kg drop on Tuesday.
The demand was low on anticipation that the prices may drop further in the coming days. The quantity offered was only 14 tonnes and the average price realised was ₹319 per kg for ungarbled varieties. MG1 garbled varieties quoted at ₹339, while new pepper stood at ₹304 per kg.
According to Kishore Shamhi of Kishor Spices, farmers are not releasing their stock and whatever they are harvesting is coming to the market to meet their immediate needs.
The farming community has an apprehension that the waste of the extracted pepper and as well as some other good variety is slipping into the domestic market and it is likely to have an impact on prices if not controlled, he said.
Since pepper imported for re-exports is duty free, the extracted waste is being sold at ₹30-35 per kg. Farmers were of the view that not only pepper but all other spices as well that are being imported and re-exported after value addition, wouldbe a biggest threat to the farming community.
Trade analysts Acumen Capital Markets said that pepper February futures price remain unchanged at ₹350.50 when closed on Monday. February futures is showing a neutral trend.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.