Spot pepper moved up on strong domestic demand amid squeeze in supply of quality material.

Trade sources told Business Line that the current crop was expected to be lower than what was projected. It is evident now from the thin arrivals from the southern districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta and parts of Kottayam, they said.

On the terminal market, 26 tonnes were traded today. High range pepper was traded at ₹400 a kg, while Rajkumari material went for ₹405 . Pulpally and Bathery (Wayanad) pepper fetched ₹397 . Where as, pepper from the plains was sold at ₹387 .

Spot prices edged up by ₹200 a quintal to ₹39,000 (ungarbled) and ₹41,000 (garbled). Export prices were at $6,575 a tonne c&f for Europe and $6,825 for the US.