Pepper Futures Witnesses Falling Trend

Kochi: Downward trend maintained in the Indian pepper futures when the all other origins ruled steady during the week. High volatility was seen. Bearish activities continued pushing down the prices. The market remained highly speculative. Spot prices also fell by Rs 200 a quintal to Rs 12,000 (un-garbled) and Rs 12,600 (MG 1) during the week. As the fundamental remain unaltered in the world market, the prices of other origins are ruling firm. On NCDEX, the drop was from Rs 274 to Rs 415 quintal, while on NMCE, except for September all the other contracts declined from Rs 265 to Rs 528 a quintal. Turn over on NCDEX during the week fell sharply by 59,834 tonnes to 86,595 tonnes. October witnessed the highest fall of 68,046 tonnes. On NMCE, the turn over during the week dropped by 6,878 tonnes to 10,737 tonnes. Here also October turn over fell by 6,431 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX during the week declined by 615 tonnes to 23,037 tonnes. September open position fell by 1,581 tonnes to 3,432 tonnes while the decline in Oct was 235 tonnes to 11,193 tonnes. The purchasers although very discretely are buying and for the time the exporters cash is strong one cannot foresee big changes. The Indian parity for Asta grade continued to remain competitive.