Pepper Futures Market Continues To Witness Downward Trend

The pepper futures market continued to witness downward trend on February 26 owing to the uncertainty over delivery of the goods by the sellers. The source said that space would be available only from March 5 and the time available between this date and the maturity would be too short a period for making the delivery. Some good quantity were traded on February 26. Exporters covered from the primary market at lower levels.
On the NCDEX, March contract fell by Rs 203 a quintal to close at Rs 12,286. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 159 to Rs 199 a quintal. On NMCE, March contract dropped by Rs 283 a quintal to close at Rs 11,603. The decline in other contracts was from Rs 49 to Rs 198 a quintal. The total turnover rose by 74 per cent on the NCDEX to 20,703 tonnes from 11,847 tonnes at last weekend close. On NMCE, it moved up by 1,960 tonnes to close at 3,603 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX went up by 476 tonnes to 30,493 tonnes, while the March position dropped by 294 tonnes to 13,398 tonnes against a total stock position of around 6,000 tonnes of the exchange. April position increased by 442 tonnes to 9,247 tonnes. On NMCE, total open interest dropped by 122 tonnes to 4,911 tonnes of which the March position was at 3,783 tonnes. In the international market Vietnam was offering FAQ pepper at $ 2,400 a tonne (f.o.b) while 550 GL at $ 2,550 a tonne (f.o.b). ASTA grade is not yet ready.

Vietnam might start offering it from April. Indonesia was offering Lampong Asta at $ 2,800 a tonne (f.o.b). In tandem with the futures market trend the spot prices dropped by Rs 100 a quintal to close at Rs 11,500 (un-garbled) and Rs 12,100 (MG 1) on February 26.