Monday, January 28, 2008

Indian Pepper Turns Competitive

Kochi: Pepper futures market witnessed a sharp fall during the week, resulting in the Indian parity becoming competitive with other origins at $3,900-3,950 a tonne (c&f).

However, Brazil is currently offering lower at $3,600 a tonne (fob) and is reportedly drawing buyers from the world market. In such a scenario, all available stock in that country would dry up soon, market sources here told Business Line.

According to them, until the Vietnam new crop arrives in the world market India is expected to remain the only available source and, therefore, those who have to cover for the first quarter of the year might turn towards the country. Enquiries from Europe were floating last week.

Though harvesting has begun in India, arrivals were half of what was normally seen during this period in the past and indicates tight supply position. Domestic demand continues to be good and much of it is being covered directly from the primary markets.

All futures contracts on the exchanges fell sharply during the week. On NCDEX the drop was from Rs 776 to Rs 976 a quintal. On NMCE the fall was from Rs 550 to Rs 670 a quintal.

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Total turnover on NCDEX also fell sharply by 29,796 tonnes to 79,659 tonnes during the week while on NMCE it dropped by 3,302 tonnes to 9,301 tonnes.

Total open interest on NCDEX fell by 2,026 tonnes to 23,048 tonnes. February and March positions declined by 1,814 tonnes and 356 tonnes respectively, while April position moved up by 86 tonnes. However, on NMCE it moved up by 89 tonnes to 1,724 tonnes.

Spot prices, in tandem with the futures market trend, dropped by Rs 300 a quintal to close at Rs 13,700 (un-garbled) and Rs 14,300 (MG 1) on Saturday.

IPC Report

According to the International Pepper Community (IPC) report for the week, situation in the source markets showed a mixed trend. In India, market for black pepper was corrected due to selling pressure in the spot market coupled with lack of overseas demand.

Buyers in the world market were in a wait-and-see mode. The situation has dampened market sentiments. Pepper futures in India showed a declining trend this week after moving up during the past couple of weeks. At Kochi, prices of pepper on average have declined around 1-2 per cent from last week. It is reported that local prices in Lampung have risen to around 30,000 Indonesian rupiah per kg and for Lampung ASTA offered at around $3,750-3,800 a tonne (f.o.b.). In Sri Lanka, pepper prices in growing areas increased by 4 per cent this week.

WHITE PEPPER

The market for white pepper continued to firm up. In Bangka, price of Muntok white increased by 3 per cent. In Hainan, white pepper price at local market stayed at $4,582 a tonne and $4,718 a tonne (FOB). In Europe, the price also increased by 2 per cent.

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