Pepper Futures Likely To Decline Further

Kochi: Wild fluctuations in the pepper futures market in past few weeks have crumpled investor's confidence in the market. Once the market stabilises, demand from overseas at lower levels is hoped. At present the purchasers are putting off decisions to take position, anticipating further decline in the prices once Vietnam's produce enters the market in full swing. Arrivals in the terminal market continued to be thin last week despite full-fledged harvesting. Exporters in Sri Lanka were quoting 525 GL at $2,535-2,550 a tonne. Pepper from the island nation is hopoed to land in Indian markets from next months under Free Trade Agreement.
During the week, the pepper futures markets saw a dip of Rs 339 to Rs 464 a quintal, while the spot prices fell by Rs 200 a quintal. The total turnover on NCDEX declined by 7,335 tonnes to 6,212 tonnes on March 10, while on NMCE it decreased by 309 tonnes to 2,027 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX improved by 146 tonnes to 29,588 tonnes. March position was down by 150 tonnes to 7,361 tonnes, while April fell by 22 tonnes to 11,700 tonnes. May position increased by 201 tonnes to 6,258 tonnes. On NMCE, total open interest moved up by 97 tonnes to 5,166 tonnes, while March decreased by 180 tonnes to 2,272 tonnes.