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Pepper prices witnessed a mixed trend with the March contract on the national exchange moving up while that on the regional exchange ruled steady.
Only one tonne for April contract was traded on the national exchange, while May contracts did not trade. The trade attributed the decline in activities to strict quality guidelines imposed by the Food Safety authorities. The norms require that there shouldn’t be any mold (fungus) in the pepper stocks. Market sources told Business Line that making completely mold-free pepper would involve additional costs which would come to ₹10-15 a kg. They argued that even the US Asta allows 1 per cent mold in the pepper imports.
Arrivals continued to remain thin. Only 20 tonnes were traded on the spot at ₹509-529 a kg. At the same time, good upcountry demand was there. Tamil Nadu-based dealers are buying from primary markets at terminal market prices on cash-and-carry basis. On the NMCE, April contract increased by ₹752 to ₹54,240 a quintal.Spot prices stayed unchanged at the previous levels at ₹50,900 (ungarbled) and ₹52,900 (garbled) a quintal. Export prices were at $8,800 c&f Europe and $9,050 a tonne c&f US.
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