Rumours that 2,000 tonnes of Vietnam pepper have arrived via Sri Lanka have pulled down the spot pepper prices sharply on Wednesday, market sources told Business Line . They said the rumours might be based on the fact that DGFT is likely to clear 75 applications for import of 2,500 tonnes of pepper from Sri Lanka under Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement this week. On the terminal market 14 tonnes of pepper were traded at ₹540-550 a kg. Spot prices fell by ₹600 a quintal to close at ₹55,500 (ungarbled) and ₹58,500 (garbled) a quintal. On the IPSTA, May , June and July contracts were steady at ₹56,000, ₹55,000 and ₹55,000 a quintal. Indian export prices were at around $9,350 a tonne c&f for Europe and $9,600 a tonne c&f for the US.