Lack of buying interest at all levels pulled aromatic and non-basmati prices down sharply on Thursday. Prices for some varieties dropped by as much as Rs 300 a quintal.
Amit Chandna, Proprietor of Hanuman Rice Trading Company, told Business Line that bulk buyers kept away, leading to fall in prices.
After witnessing some phenomenal rise earlier this month, the market is now in a correction mode.
Retail traders are keeping off the market as they do not want to make fresh purchase at current levels, he said.
Following a fear of drop in prices, demand at present in the local market is quite low said Tara Chand Sharma, proprietor of Tara Chand and Sons.
In the physical market, Pusa-1121 (steam) eased by Rs 300 to Rs 8,900 a quintal, while Pusa-1121 (sela) dropped by Rs 200 to Rs 7,800.
Pure Basmati (raw) fell by Rs 200 to Rs 12,500. Duplicate basmati (steam) sold at Rs 7,750, (down Rs 250 ).
In the non-basmati section, Sharbati (steam) dropped by Rs 200 to Rs 5,000-5,100, while Sharbati (Sela) quoted at Rs 4,650, down Rs 150. PR varieties dropped by Rs 50-100. Permal (raw) sold at Rs 2,350, while Permal (sela) quoted at Rs 2,400. PR-11 (sela) sold at Rs 3,200, while PR-11 (raw) quoted at Rs 3,000.
PR14 (steam) sold at Rs 3,350.
Paddy arrivals
About 10, 000 bags of PR paddy arrived and quoted at Rs 1,300 a quintal. Around 20,000 bags of Pusa-1121 arrived and went for Rs 4,150-4,400 a quintal, while 10,000 bags of Sharbati arrived and sold at Rs 2,300-2,400 a quintal.
Around 5,000 of duplicate Basmati arrived and sold for Rs 4,150-4,200 a quintal, 5,000 bags of Sugandha-999 went for Rs 3,150-3,200 a quintal, while 1,000 bags of pure Basmati sold at Rs 5,900-5,925 a quintal.