Pepper futures dropped on Friday on fear “tainted pepper” will be released in the market following withdrawal of the case in the Madhya Pradesh High Court. In addition, selling pressure in the plains of Kerala added to the downtrend.
Reports of Vietnam market turning easy put further pressure.
Reports from Colombo, quoting Sri Lankan exporters, said that inquiries from Indian importers were floating in the markets there for 525 -550 GL pepper at $6,500 a tonne (c&f), Kochi, market sources said.
Consequently, all the active contracts fell.
On the India Pepper and Spice Trade Association (IPSTA) platform, prices of active contracts fell sharply.
Low bulk density pepper, having high moisture content, was arriving only at the terminal markets.
On Friday, 11 tonnes of the material arrived and 10 tonnes were traded.
Meanwhile, sellers of Rajkumari (Idukki) pepper, who were not offering their produce when buyers showed interest to buy at Rs 420, were willing to sell at the same price. But, the buyers seem to be uninterested.
Domestic demand has also slowed down as buyers were not forthcoming to cover in a declining and uncertain market, sources said.
Besides, the high fluctuation in the currency rates is also a dissuading factor, they claimed.
On the NMCE, October and November contracts decreased by Rs 306 and Rs 146 a quintal respectively to Rs 43,200 and Rs 43,775 a quintal. December contracts moved up by Re1 to Rs 44,051.
Total open interest declined by three tonnes to 39 tonnes. Total turnover moved up by three tonnes to 24 tonnes.
Spot prices fell further by Rs 200 to close at Rs 40,300 (ungarbled) and Rs 42,300 (garbled) a quintal on limited activities.
Indian parity in the international market has moved up on strengthening of the rupee against the dollar to $7,250 a tonne (c&f) Europe and $7,500 a tonne (c&f) for the US.