Pepper future witnesses sharp fallb

Kochi: The pepper futures market during the week has shown a sharp fall mainly on the uncertainty over the quantitative restrictions imposed on nearby positions and on rumours of downward trend in Vietnam. Exporters were purchasing from exchanges and exporting. In the international market, the prices at all other origins witnessed marginal fall but were by and large steady. No Asta grade pepper was on offer and hence the Indian parity for MG 1 remained competitive. The total turnover on NCDEX fell by 12,316 tonnes during the week to 1,29,033 tonnes while on NMCE it declined by 2,344 tonnes to 10,854 tonnes. The decline in June position was at 2,540 tonnes to 7,675 tonnes as the maturity of the contract is nearing. On NMCE, the total open interest during the week increased by 243 tonnes to close at 3,806 tonnes. June position fell by 108 tonnes to 2,484 tonnes.