G..K Nair

Kochi, Sept 24 Pepper futures market on Wednesday dropped mainly on the flash strike at the Kochi port.

Tight supply position coupled with decline in futures prices and a weakened rupee has led to some business coming to India. The buyers want immediate delivery. Exporters who had taken delivery on September 19 and 20 might not be able to meet the delivery schedule set by the overseas buyers and as a result there was no buying. Spot pepper is not available. Exporters were, in fact, going to some of the investors holding validity expired stock for covering.

The intermittent strike at the port is said to be compelling the exporters to look for alternative shipping facilities, trading sources told Business Line.

On NCDEX, October contract fell by Rs 105 a quintal to Rs 13,255 on Wednesday. November and December contracts fell by Rs 126 and Rs 155 to Rs 13,500 and Rs 13,727 a quintal respectively. The decline in January and February was by Rs 25 and Rs 54 respectively.

The total turnover on NCDEX increased by 1,570 tonnes to 12,359 tonnes. Total open interest also went up by 462 tonnes to 18,162 tonnes. Spot was down by Rs 100 a quintal to Rs 13,000 (un-garbled) and Rs 13,600 (MG 1).

Meanwhile, pepper exports from India during April-August 2008 dropped to 11,250 tonnes valued at Rs 190.65 crore from 15,620 tonnes valued at Rs 226.44 crore in the corresponding period last year. The unit value realised this year was Rs 169.47 a kg as against Rs 144.97 a kg. Shipments in August this year fell to 1,750 tonnes valued at Rs 30.10 crore, which is more than half of the quantity of 3,567 tonnes of August 2007. The unit value in last month was Rs 172 a kg as against Rs 149.32 a kg in the same month last year. As “we were out priced our shipments dropped during the current fiscal. Besides, there was a decline in the imports by the US,” exporters attributed.

International market ruled steady on tight supply position. According to Brazilian Pepper Trade Board on Wednesday Brazilian exporters were unable to offer yesterday because the farmers had decided to wait for better prices.

“The uptrend is a certainty among all involved in the industry in Brazil and the exchange rate is the doubt”.

Meanwhile reports from Vietnam show bullish trend with 500gl FAQ at $2,650 a tonne and up and 550 gl above $2,850 a tonne (c&f) if available, it said.

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