Barely continued to lose froth as futures and spot prices continued to decline on Friday.
With monsoon making up in August for the deficiency and lashing growing areas, speculators have begun to lock in their profits. Primarily, the fall in futures is dragging spot prices too.
Bountiful showers since the second half of this month across the country have shrunk the monsoon deficit to 12 per cent. With more showers being predicted, fears of drought and a total washout of crops have receded.
In particular, monsoon has brought plenty of showers to the growing regions in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, leading to a bearish trend.
Ample stocks with farmers and traders from the previous harvest have also begun to play a role in dampening the prices.
NCDEX contracts
On the NCDEX, barley for September delivery was down by Rs 12 a quintal on Friday noon to Rs 1,277.50.
October contract dropped by Rs 8 to Rs 1,318.50, while November and December also quoted lower at Rs 1,355 (down Rs 9.5) and Rs 1,390 (lower by Rs 12.5).
Prices had touched Rs 1,400 a fortnight ago before fundamentals came into play along with better monsoon coverage.
In the Jaipur spot market, barley was quoted at Rs 1,250.85, marginally lower compared with Thursday’s close.