The quality of new pepper arriving at the terminal markets has improved considerably with the reduction in the moisture content of the new crop.

The farmers, however, are holding back their produce and engaging in need-based selling due to subdued domestic demand, said Kishore Shamji of Kishor Spices.

This was evident in the Kochi pepper trade on Wednesday, which was down by ₹1 per kg with ungarbled varieties quoting at ₹318 a kg. The difference between the rates of ungarbled and new pepper was now ₹10 and is quoting at ₹308 per kg. MG1 garbled varieties stood at ₹338.

According to Shamji, prices in the corresponding period last year was ₹345 for ungarbled and ₹365 for garbled varieties. The new pepper realised ₹330.

Though there is a good industrial demand, whatever quantity arrived was sold out. The total offtake was 23 tonnes. The domestic demand was slow due to less number of people visiting the consumer markets for purchase. On the other hand, the end-users, who are taking advantage of the favourable climatic conditions for grinding, are working in full swing. So, the demand from end-users and industry are on the higher side, Shamji said.

It is anticipated that arrivals may improve in the coming days as farmers will release more pepper, depending on the price movement.

Compared with other producing countries, the cost of production of pepper in India is on the higher side. To protect the farmers’ interest, 70 per cent import duty was imposed on pepper imported for domestic use.

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