Pepper Future Witnesses Sharp Decline

Kochi: Pepper futures market saw a sharp fall on May 21, on reports that Vietnam has decreased the prices of 500 GL to $3,600-$3,650 a tonne (fob). Besides, strong rupee against the dollar has also influenced the market. Hence, exporters could cover from the exchange and export. Indonesia also reportedly lowered their price of Lasta to $3,850 a tonne (fob) while the Indian parity ruled at $3,900-3,950 because of the strong rupee. Though the futures prices decline by Rs 6 to Rs 7 a kg on Monday the decline in spot was just Rs 2 a kg. June contract on NCDEX fell by Rs 763 a quintal to close at Rs 14,449 on May 21from Rs 15,212 last May 19. On NMCE, June contract declined by Rs 649 a quintal to close at Rs 14,200 from Rs 14,849 while the fall in other contracts was from Rs 406 to Rs 675 a quintal.
The total turnover on NCDEX increased by 11,766 tonnes to 30,648 tonnes while that of NMCE was by 1,297 tonnes to 2,592 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX fell by 616 tonnes to 25,804 tonnes. June position fell by 1,575 tonnes to 15,879 tonnes while July increased by 928 tonnes to 6,209 tonnes. June position also went up by 128 tonnes to 2,621 tonnes. The spot prices in tandem with the futures market trend dropped by Rs 200 a quintal to close at Rs 14,000 (un-garbled) and Rs 14,600 (MG 1) on May 21.