The Jeera futures contract registered sharp gains during the week ended March 24 on positive fundamental factors. There was expectation of strong demand for the Indian variety jeera in the export market.

Further, reports of damage to the standing crop in Rajasthan due to rainfall and hailstorm last week also supported price gains for jeera futures contract.

New crop arrivals are increasing steadily across major spot markets and they are much higher compared to last year. However, carryover stocks are reported to be lower at production centres due to lower production in crop year 2015-16.

The most active April futures contract made a low and a high of ₹16,855 per quintal and ₹18,515 per quintal respectively before closing the week at ₹17,880 per quintal, up by 6.02 per cent over last week. In the spot market, prices gained in the range of ₹400-1,000 per quintal across markets, including Unjha, Rajkot and Gondal. These markets will remain closed from March 26 to April 2 on book closure for the financial year end.

Outlook For the week ahead, jeera futures prices are expected to continue to trade on a positive note. The prevailing positive sentiment in the market may support prices. As spot markets will be closed for trading activities, they won’t provide cues for trade in the futures market.

The writer is Head-Commodity Research, Karvy Comtrade

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