Poor quality pulls down pepper prices

Spot pepper prices fell on Friday and quality of the material is attributed to the easier trend. Increase in moisture content to over 13 per cent due monsoon rains coupled with availability of low bulk density imported pepper in the upcountry markets has pulled the prices further down, market sources told Business Line . They said except for the end users who were covering small volumes the buyers by and large have slowed down. As a result, the spot prices fell by ₹300 a quintal to close at ₹50,200 (ungarbled) and ₹52,200 (garbled) a quintal. On the terminal market 21 tonnes were traded. 10 tonnes from the high ranges traded at ₹510 a kg while 6 tonnes from Wayanad traded at ₹505 and 5 tonnes of imported peppersold at ₹500 a kg. Indian export prices were at $8,375 a tonne c&f for Europe and $8,625 a tonne c&f for the US.