Spot pepper up on supply crunch

Spot pepper gained on Monday on a supply squeeze. No sellers were forthcoming on the anticipation that prices may move up shortly, market sources told BusinessLine. Spot prices rose by ₹200 a quintal to close at ₹57,700 (ungarbled) and ₹60,700 (garbled). April, May and June contracts on IPSTA were at ₹61,000, ₹59,000 and ₹57,000 a quintal respectively. Export prices were at $9,650 a tonne c&f for Europe and $9,900 a tonne c&f for US.