Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Pepper Futures Witness Sharp Fall

Kochi: Pepper futures market witnessed a sharp fall in the prices during the week despite a squeezed supply position. Run-up to Budget 2008-09

All contracts on NCDEX fell by Rs 579 to Rs 652 a quintal during the week while on NMCE the fall was from Rs 665 to Rs 697 a quintal.

The market witnessed high volatility. The turnover on NCDEX shot up by 29,020 tonnes to 82,368 tonnes while that on NMCE moved up by 1,917 tonnes to 8,488 tonnes.

Net open position witnessed a sharp decline. Total open interest on NCDEX fell by 3,257 tonnes to 19,959 tonnes. February and March positions dropped by 1,430 tonnes and 2,986 tonnes, respectively, to close at 1,501 tonnes and 11,562 tonnes, respectively, on Saturday.

On NMCE, total open interest declined by 106 tonnes to 1,725 tonnes.

The thin arrivals said to have compelled the exporters to buy from exchanges and opt for delivery.

Spot prices in tandem with the futures market trend fell by Rs 300 a quintal to close at Rs 13,300 (un-garbled) and Rs 13,900 (MG 1).

When the Indian parity was ruling at $3,700-3,725 a tonne (c&f) European operators reported to have covered about 500 tonnes of black pepper from here.

Indian parity, at present, is competitive with Indonesia and Vietnam. However, Brazil has been offering at lower levels. Arrival of new crop in Vietnam is yet to pick up. Indications are that farmers in Vietnam might resort to a regulated release, as they have done last year, so as to keep the prices without falling.

On the other hand, since the white pepper prices are ruling high Vietnam, where the conversion cost is comparatively low, is expected to move substantial quantity of bold berries for conversion into white. Such situations could squeeze the availability of black pepper in the world market, below the consumption demand.

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