Rubber Witnesses Steady Trend

Kottayam: Spot rubber was steady on March 30. Initially, the market lost ground in the morning session lacking purchasers but recovered later to conclude flat in the wake of an optimistic trend in international and domestic futures. Sheet rubber closed unchanged at Rs 93.50 a kg at Kottayam. The rubber futures registered all-round gains possibly on fresh buying coupled with short covering at lower levels. On NMCE, the April contract moved up to Rs 93 (91.51), May to Rs 96.70 (95.02), June to Rs 99.65 (98.05) and July to Rs 100.41 (99.35) a kg for RSS 4.

Pepper Declines On Reports Of Import Duty Cut

Kochi: Pepper futures declined on March 29, following reports that the Union Government, under pressure from South and South-East Asian countries, could cut import duty on pepper to 20 per cent from 70 per cent. Anticipating a dip in prices in the event of an import duty cut, speculators started liquidating their positions and this drove the market down. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 120 to Rs 165 a quintal. On NMCE, the April contract fell by Rs 82 a quintal to Rs 13,090. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 5 to Rs 219 a quintal.
The total open interest on NCDEX declined by 202 tonnes to 28,878 tonnes. The April position fell by 609 tonnes to 7,563 tonnes, while May fell by 33 tonnes to 13,902 tonnes. The June position moved up by 323 tonnes to 4,802 tonnes. The April position stood at 313 tonnes, while May went up by 56 tonnes to 2,847 tonnes. The world market rates are likely to rule higher given the tight supply position; when freight and the reported 20 per cent duty are added, the landed cost of imported pepper would be even higher.

Coonoor Tea Auction Offers At 10-Week High

Coonoor: A volume of 10.28 lakh kg has been catalogued for the Sale No: 13 to be conducted by the Coonoor Tea Trade Association (CTTA) here this week. This is almost double the volume offered last week. Since a substantial portion of the teas in the previous weeks had gone unsold, some portion of this unsold volume is coming up for sale this week. This is the highest volume offered in the last 10 weeks. It is about 3 lakh kg more than the volume offered in the corresponding sale last year. Of the 10.28-lakh kg now on offer, as much as 7.23 lakh kg belong to the leaf grades and the remaining belong to dust grades.

Cardamom Plantations Affected By Severe Drought

Kochi: Severe drought conditions prevailing in the cardamom growing areas in Kerala, the main producer of the aromatic spice in the country, said to have dried up plants in an estimated 15,000 hectares. The plantations having irrigation facilities have also been affected now as the water resources have dried up. The impact of high temperature on the plants, which were receiving irrigation until few days back is serious. 50 per cent of the total plantations was under irrigation and for the past 25 days, it could not be irrigated for want of water. The plants cannot withstand prolonged dry spell, as it requires wet soil conditions. The current situation would result in an estimated decline of 25-30 per cent in output from that of last season estimated around 9,765 tonnes. The total output during the current season, he claimed, might come to around 7,000 tonnes. Around 85 per cent of the national production of cardamom is from Kerala.
The drop in production this season has pushed up the prices to moderate levels. But the dry spell has reduced the yield affecting the total income of the growers. The total loss inflicted by the drought would come to an estimated Rs 200 crore. Replanting of the damaged plants would entail fresh investments. On the other hand, improved variety planting materials weblre also not sufficiently available. Given this precarious situation, he urged the Union Government to take measures to waive at least the interest on loans availed by the growers amounting to Rs 400 crore from nationalised and other banks. The Tamil Nadu Government had decided to waive Rs 7,000 crore agricultural loans including that taken by cardamom growers given by the cooperative banks. The total area under cardamom in the country was 73,237 hectares in 2003-04 of which 55,221 ha was yielding. Kerala had 41,332 ha followed by Karnataka (26,838 ha) and Tamil Nadu (5,067 ha).

Coonoor Tea Prices Decline

Coonoor: Prices declined around Rs 2 a kg on the average at the Coonoor Tea Trade Association auctions here last week despite the volume being low as the demand was inadequate to absorb the offer at higher bids. The volume of 5.44 lakh kg was the lowest so far for the year but purchasers said more teas were available in the market outside as volumes had been withdrawn in the last one month with the exporter refraining to buy and the upcountry dealers holding doubts on the adjustability of CST (central sales tax) against VAT (value added tax). The buyers were said to be for Russian market and the bids ranged from Rs 41 to Rs 46 a kg. Auctioneers said exporters who operated on the CTC leaf grades were keen to adjust the bids against VAT. On the corporate purchasing front, Hindustan Lever Ltd bought good medium grades. Upcountry buyers had their own inability in some cases because of reduced orders arising from uncompetitive edge after paying 4 percent VAT.

Rubber Futures Price Limit Likely To Be Reduced To 4%

Kochi: The Forward Markets Commission (FMC) is mulling to bring down the daily price limit in the natural rubber futures to 4 per cent from the present 9 per cent. In a meeting convened by the FMC on March 26, the Indian Rubber Dealers Federation (IRDF) raised the issue. Rajiv Agarwal, member, FMC, told the IRDF to submit a detailed report on the daily variation in prices in the pre-futures and the post-futures eras. The IRDF urged the FMC to provide a 2+2 price limit band, allowing the maximum limit to 4 per cent in a day's trading. The federation also demanded that there should be compulsory registration with the Rubber Board for all the participants in futures trading. The federation argued that according to the Rubber Act, natural rubber was a controlled commodity and hence registration was essential. In the meantime, the Rubber Board will convene a meeting of various players dealing in natural rubber and the three national exchanges on March 28 to sort out various issues pertaining to futures trading of the commodity.

Pepper Rates May Not To Drop Below $2,500 A Tonne

Kochi: The current price trend in Vietnam shows the tight supply position and as such the farmers there do not seem to part with their produce anticipating further increase in prices. There seems to be a good demand from China after its New Year celebrations and substantial quantity of pepper was moving out through Cambodia. On the other hand, the crop in Brazil is also said to be less in 2007. The thin arrivals at the terminal markets here speak of the low crop in India. Thus, the current tight supply position is hoped to stay. Vietnam was offering Asta grade at $2,800 a tonne (f.o.b.) while Brazil is said to have quoted $2,700-2,800 a tonne (f.o.b.). Indian parity is at $3,100 a tonne (c&f).
The pepper rates are unlikely to drop below $2,500 a tonne this year. Therefore, every drop in the rates here would be advantageous for the investors to invest in the commodity. Spot rates shot up by Rs 600 a quintal. According to the International Pepper Community (IPC) report, during the week (March 19 - 23) black pepper market was moving up slowly despite harvesting in Vietnam. The rates were reported stable. At Daklak, the rate for raw materials was VND 35,000 a kg. In India, activities at local market were increasing and prices moved up by around 2-8 per cent. The price at local market was stable.
On NCDEX, April contract dropped by Rs 13 to close at Rs 13,120 a quintal from Rs 13,133 on March 23. The other contracts increasd by Rs13 to Rs 211 a quintal. On NMCE, April contract dropped by Rs 43 to close at Rs 12,704 a quintal from Rs 12,747. The other contracts except Aug moved up by Rs 2-206 quintal. Aug declined by Rs 16 a quintal. The total turn over on NCDEX fell by 14,153 tonne to 17,641 tonne while on NMCE, it dipped by 1,749 tonne to 3,373 tonne. The total open interest on NCDEX on Saturday dropped by 374 tonne to 28,649. On NMCE, the total open interest went up by 164 tonne to 4,233 tonne. Domestic demand continued to be good. The spot prices ruled steady at Rs 11,800 (un-garbled) and Rs 12,400 (MG 1).

Orissa, AP Can Play Major Role In Cashew Sector

Mangalore: Orissa and Andhra Pradesh can play a big role in meeting the demands of the cashew industry, provided this sector gets right impetus. The recent visit by a delegation of Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers' Association to the two States, has saw that Orissa, which produces around 60,000 tonnes of raw cashewnuts a year, has potential to more than double this. The delegation also noted that Andhra Pradesh, which produces 80,000 tonnes, could triple its production in the next 10 years to meet the market demand.
Orissa can export around Rs 300 crore of cashew in the next five years, provided the sector gets the right impetus in that state. Five districts in Orissa Chatrapur, Puri, Ganjam, Koraput, and Navarangpur prominently figure in cashew production and processing. While Ganjam and Chatrapur together process about 24,000 tonnes of raw cashewnut per annum, Koraput and Navarangpur process 30,000 tonnes. Since all the units are located within four sq km of this centre, Jeypore processing zone could be an ideal choice for development under the Centre's cluster scheme.
Factors such as quality of local cashews, availability of fertile land and low labour costs provide Orissa a competitive edge over the other cashew-producing states. However, the biggest drawback is that major land holdings are with tribal people. Since no major production is being taken up on these lands, a major opportunity to increase the production of raw cashewnuts is lost. Andhra Pradesh has cashew-processing centres at Tuni in East Godavari district, Palasa in Srikakulam district, Vetapalam in Prakasham district, and Rajmundry in West Godavari district. With Vishakapatnam port being very close to Tuni, it can be declared as an export zone. If that is done, Tuni can easily generate an export turnover of Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore.

Cashew Growers Urged To Package Of Practices For Better Yield

Mangalore: Cashew growers have been asked to follow the package of practices proposed by the experts to get better yields from their plantations. Growers get good returns in cashew when compared with other plantation crops. So farmers can take minimum risk if they plan to cultivate cashew. The cashew research station at Ullal has come out with some of the best varieties of cashew plants, and farmers should take steps to cultivate them.
The Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers' Association (KCMA), said that cashew-processing units in Karnataka process around 35,000 tonnes of cashew a year. Vietnam, one of the major cashew-producing nations, produces around 4.5 lakh tonnes of cashew from 3 lakh hectares. The productivity of the cashew plantations is more in that nation compared to India. Cashew plantations were now coming up in various non-traditional areas in the State. Organic vegetables and cashew have good export value, and growers should take benefit of this.

Maize Futures Witnesses Up Trend

Mumbai: Demand for maize in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh witnessed futures contracts for April delivery on NCDEX rise 1.95 per cent to Rs 785 per quintal. Lesser arrivals of 25 truckload of chana against 50 trucks in the Rajasthan markets increased futures by 1.65 per cent to Rs 2,275 per quintal. Strong international prices boosted pepper futures on NCDEX by 1.17 per cent to Rs 13,110 per quintal. Soyabean futures increased 1.11 per cent to Rs 1,582 per quintal. On MCX, cardamom recorded a gain of 1.92 per cent to Rs 481 per kg on good export demand. Strong spot markets increased kapaskhali futures rates by 1.57 per cent to Rs 394 per 50 kg. Higher crude prices coupled with rise in domestic demand increased rubber futures by 1.88 per cent to Rs 9,516 per quintal. Potato futures on MCX and NCDEX fell by 0.24 per cent and 0.16 per cent to Rs 576 per quintal and Rs 611 per quintal, respectively, as most of the cold storage houses around the producing centres are filled to capacity. Mentha oil on MCX closed marginally lower.

Jute Sector Likely To Receive Additional Order

Kolkata: The Department of Food and Public Distribution in the Union Ministry of Food and Public Distribution is likely to soon issue orders to the jute sector for supply of another 65,000 bales of B twill bags for packing foodgrain in the rabi season. The orders, when they materialise, is hoped to act as a shot in the arm of the beleaguered jute industry, which has just come out of a 63-day industry-wide strike. Following withdrawal of the strike on March 8, the Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) requested the State Government to prevail upon the Centre to cancel the indent invited by it for procurement of 1.15 lakh bales of HDPE/PP bags and ensure that orders would be placed for jute bags in lieu thereof.
On March 20, IJMA wrote a letter to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, drawing his attention to the issue. IJMA said when the strike was settled on March 8, the industry was ensured that the State Government would prevail upon the Department of Food & Public Distribution at the Centre to cancel the indent for procurement of HDPE/PP bags and the Jute Commissioner would be advised to place orders for procurement of equivalent quantity of jute bags in place of HDPE/PP bags.

Pepper Future Witnesses Up Trend

Kochi: Pepper futures increased slightly on March 22, on optimistic activities. Rumours from US markets that Vietnam is offering 500 GL at $2,475-$2,500 a tonne have contributed to the upward swing in the market. The Vietnam rates for 500 GL were at $2,360-$2,400 a tonne (fob). Vietnam was reportedly offering 550 GL at $2,520-$2,580 a tonne (f.o.b), while V Asta at $2,740 a tonne (f.o.b). Brazil Asta was quoted at $2,700 at tonne (f.o.b) while B-1 at $2,600-$2,650 tonne (f.o.b). No overseas demand has come to India. Indian parity is at $3,050 a tonne (c&f) slightly on the higher side. Domestic demand continued to be good. However, it is being met directly from the primary markets. Processors were purchasing spot and as a result spot prices have shown an upward trend. The April contract on NCDEX moved up to close at Rs 12,963 on March 22, from Rs 12,945 on March 21. All the other contracts were marginally up except for June, from Rs 2 to Rs 21 a quintal.
On NMCE April contract increased by Rs 88 a quintal to close at Rs 12,550. The increase in other contracts except for June was from Rs 24 to Rs 266 a quintal. June fell by Rs 5 a quintal. The total turnover on NCDEX declined by 1,710 tonnes to 34,475 tonnes, while on NMCE it went up by 2,666 tonnes to 6,980 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX increased by 365 tonnes to 29,406 tonnes. April position, however, dipped by 401 tonnes to 11,820 tonne while May went up by 984 tonnes to 11,306 tonnes. On NMCE, total open interest moved up by 199 tonnes to 3,919 tonnes while April position was down by 19 tonnes to 297 tonnes. May picked up by 204 tonnes to 2,340 tonnes. The spot prices on purchasing support increased by Rs 100 a quintal on March 22, to close at Rs 11,600 (un-garbled) and Rs 12,200 (MG 1).

Early Crop Likely To Affect Onion Prices

Onion prices are expected to witness further fall to Rs 5 a kg in the wake of fresh arrivals from Maharashtra, which have hit the market early this season. At present, onion prices are in the range of Rs 6.50-7.50 a kg at the Vashi APMC. Arrivals from Maharashtra begin around April 1 and continue throughout the month. This season, the arrivals have begun earlier, albeit in small quantity, and are estimated to continue till the last week of April. The supply is expected to exceed the demand, owing to a bumper crop this season. About 225 trucks, each laden with 12 tonne of onion, have been arriving at the Vashi APMC against the normal supply of 100-125 trucks. A section of traders is apprehensive over the continued supply of onion. They argued that farmers might not sell their produce at prices lower than their cost of cultivation, raising fears of a tight supply once onion dropped below Rs 5.50 a kg. The country shipped around 10.5 lakh tonne of onion as on March 5 and the export figures for the current financial year were likely to touch 11 lakh tonne, a 41 per cent increase over the last year's exports of 7.78 lakh tonne.

Wheat Prices Skyrocket In MP

In Madhya Pradesh, despite acute power shortage and fertiliser crisis, a hike in minimum support prices has led to a surge in wheat prices. The Madhya Pradesh government has directed its agencies to procure an additional 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat this year. Private players, including ITC, Cargill, Hind Lever and others procured 500,000 quintals roughly, according to the sources. Even though the state government has not embarked on supplementary wheat procurement through its agencies - Madhya Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation and Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation, -a good response to "Lok-1" variety has been reported in Vidisha, Sehore and Ashta mandis while Bhopal mandi has reportedly received a lukewarm response with a minimum of 2,000-3,000 quintals during the last one week. Lok-1 wheat prices were hovering at Rs 750-1,425 a quintal. The prices are likely to go up further since private sector atta makers are waiting for arrival of Sharbati variety of wheat which is rich in protein. Sharbati arrivals will begin at the end of this month or first week of April. Although all districts of the state grow wheat Ashta, Ganjbasoda, Indore, Dewas, Guna, Ashoknagar, Sehore, Vidisha and some parts of Raisen and Sagar districts are know for the high quality Sharbati wheat. The prices normally start from Rs 1400 per quintal even in open market and cross Rs 2000 per quintal. Last week prices of Sharbati variety prices touched a maximum of Rs 2210. During January this year the state government had admitted a fall in wheat production by 5-15 per cent from the targeted 90 lakh tonnes from 44 lakh hectare acreage.

Potato Prices Stabilise

New Delhi: Potato prices have come down over 30 per cent in about a month but the party could be spoilt again if rain gods come calling again. Potato prices were seeing a sharp rally in the commodity markets as well as mandis recently as the crop got damaged following unseasonal rains across northern India. Analysts as well as traders expect the prices to cool down with better weather conditions, while warning that an upward rally might resume if untimely rains affect the crops yet again. While increased demand during the Navratra season could push the prices higher in the short term, higher supply in the market due to improved weather conditions is likely to check any major surge. While the retail market potato prices in Delhi have come down to about Rs 10 a kg, from about Rs 15 a month ago, the prices at the capital's Azadpur wholesale market, a leading trading centre in the country, are hovering between Rs 4.70-6.25 per kg. According to Delhi Government's Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee, wholesale potato prices in the capital city were between Rs 4.50-8.25 per kg on March 16. Traders said at least 10 per cent of the crop was affected due to continuous rains for 3-4 days in major producing areas of Uttar Pradesh and Tarkeshwar in West Bengal. According to Karvy Comtrade, potato production in the country is likely to see 10-15 per cent decline from an earlier estimate of 26 million tonne this year due to unseasonal rains. In West Bengal, potato output is likely to be 20 per cent less at 7.48 million tonne against the initial estimate of 9 million tonne although acreage has increased to 4.2 lakh hectare this year from 3.1 lakh hectare last year.

Cardamom Price Witnesses Steady Trend

Kochi: Cardamom prices remained to rule steady with the average prices remaining above Rs 300 a kg for the last two months, at the auctions held in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. North Indian buyers were active, while the exporters were seen purchasing albeit little quantities during the week. The prevailing high prices are pointed out to be responsible for the weak demand. However, the domestic purchasers were active given the dip in arrivals in recent days following the drought conditions prevailing in the growing areas and a consequent decline in the output this season.
The maximum price was Rs 491 and the average price was Rs 326.69 a kg. Exporters bought eight tonnes on Wednesday, he said. 8mm bold capsules fetched Rs 420 - 450 a kg, while 7.5 mm Rs 400-420 and 7 mm Rs 350 - 375. Total arrivals during the current season up to March 13 stood at 6,477 tonnes against 7,436 tonnes in the corresponding period the previous season, a drop of over 1,000 tonnes. The sales during the current season were at 5,953 tonnes against 6,943 tonnes. The prices of the graded varieties were AGEB Rs 430 - 440, AGB Rs 350 - 360, AGS Rs 335-345 and AGS 1 Rs 300 - 310 a kg. The open market prices at Bodinayakannur on Thursday were AGEB Rs 420 - 430. AGB Rs 340 - 350, AGS Rs 325 - 335 and AGS 1 Rs 290 - 300.

Rubber Witnesses Down Trend

Kottayam: Domestic rubber rates continued under pressure as global rubber futures were in a corrective phase on March 14. On the physical front, RSS 4 declined to Rs 87 a kg from 87.75 and Rs 88 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi. The rubber futures lost heavily in the morning session but the distant contracts bounced back later and closed in green on fresh buying and short covering on NMCE. The March contract completed at Rs 85.01(89.01), April at Rs 88.90 (88.69), May at Rs 92.49 (91.75) and June at Rs 95.75 (95.01) per kg for RSS 4. The April contract for the grade was marginally weak at Rs 89.30 against Rs 89.42 a kg on MCX. The April futures for RSS 3 declined to 255.5 Yen (Rs 97.58) from 260.4 Yen a kg at TOCOMPhysical prices were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 87 (87.75); RSS-5: 86 (87); ungraded: 85 (86); ISNR 20: 86 (86.50) and latex 60 per cent: 62.10 (62.10).

Pepper Future Witnesses Down Trend

Kochi: Pepper futures fell on March 14, on bearish activities and reports of $25 drop in Vietnamese prices. Reports that the Centre was unlikely to extend export subsidy for pepper also had an impact on the prices. Meanwhile, some of the processors were taking delivery from one exchange and dumping in another exchange. On NCDEX, March contract decreased by Rs 123 a quintal to Rs 11,656 on March 14. The decline in other positions was from Rs 22 to Rs 90 a quintal except September, which was up by Re 1 a quintal. March contract on NMCE increased by Rs 36 a quintal to Rs 11,200. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 131 to Rs 177 a quintal.
The total turnover on NCDEX on March 14, decreased by 5,701 tonnes to 17,221 tonnes, while on NMCE it fell by 744 tonnes to 1,898 tonnes. The total open interest on NCDEX declined by 227 tonnes to 29,190 tonnes. The March position declined by 920 tonnes to 4,728 tonnes, while April increased by 201 tonnes to 12,140 tonnes. On NMCE, the total open interest went up by 78 tonnes to 3,588 tonnes. March position declined by 178 tonnes to 173 tonnes. May and June position increased to 1,889 tonnes and 1,018 tonnes.

Pepper Future Witnesses Up Trend

Kochi: The pepper futures market on March 13, increased on speculative activities following rumours of delay in shipping of the commodity from Vietnam. Marketfed, the Kerala Government procurement agency, on March 13, sold 100 tonnes of pepper held by it at Rs 11,250 a quintal. On NCDEX, March contract increased by Rs 71 a quintal to close at Rs 11,770 on Tuesday from Rs 11,699. On NMCE, March contract increased by Rs 62 a quintal to close at Rs 11,225 from Rs 11,163. The total turnover on NCDEX increased by 3,611 tonnes to 22,922 tonnes, while on NMCE it moved up by 394 tonnes to 2,642 tonnes. Total open interest on NCDEX fell by 193 tonnes to 29,417 tonnes. March position fell by 1,678 tonnes to 351 tonnes. The spot prices increased by Rs 100 a quintal to close at Rs 11,200 (un-garbled) and Rs 11,800 (MG 1) on March 13.

Rubber Witnesses Steady Trend

Kottayam: Physical rubber prices closed on a firm note on March 13. Sheet rubber finished flat at Rs 87.75 and Rs 88 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi as on March 12. The trading lacked proper direction in the absence of domestic fundamental support and guidance, sources said. The March delivery contract for the grade declined sharply to Rs 85.33 (89.03), April to Rs 88.99 (90.35), May to Rs 91.99 (93.96) and June contract to Rs 95.27 (97.76) a kg on NMCE.
The transactions totalled 4,049 (3,198) lots. The open interest stood at 12,182 (15,687) lots with 824 lots in March, 4942 lots in April, 4946 lots in May and 1470 lots in June. The April futures for RSS 3 improved to 260.4 Yen (Rs 98.14) from 258 Yen a kg at TOCOM. The grade was quoted at Rs 97.90 a kg at Bangkok. Spot rubber rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 87.75 (87.75); RSS-5: 87 (87); ungraded: 86 (86); ISNR 20: 86.50 (86.50) and latex 60 per cent: 62.10 (62.10).

India Merges Larges Pepper Exports To US In Jan

Kochi: India overtook Vietnam to emerge as the largest exporter of black pepper to the US in January, buoy by export subsidy. This is happening after a gap of five years. Major export houses were able to ship the spice in large quantities between November 2006 and January 2007, with the subsidy bringing about a level playing field in the domestic and the global prices of black pepper. Of the total US imports of 4,226 tonne in January, India shipped 1,870 tonne, followed by 1,225 tonne from Brazil, 465 tonne from Indonesia, 375 tonne from Vietnam and 115 tonne from Malaysia. Vietnam, Brazil and Indonesia dominated the US market for the last five years, with India at the bottom of the list. The fall in the January exports of Vietnam was mainly because of the offseason in the country. Vietnam's stock position was rather weak between October 2006 and January 2007, as the country had shipped around 118,000 tonne during the 2006 season. Between January 2006 and January 2007, the total US imports ballooned to 59,724 tonne, almost equal to the average annual production of India. In the previous period, the US imports accounted for 56,760 tonne. Meanwhile, signalling a better crop in the current year, Vietnam's total exports in February increased to 4,258 tonne from 3,447 tonne in January. Germany topped the importers' list of the Vietnam variety in February with 687 tonne, followed by Singapore importing 565 tonne and India ranking the third, importing 548 tonne from Vietnam in February, with black pepper accounting for 427 tonne and white pepper making up 121 tonne. With the gap between Indian and Vietnamese tags widening, pepper processors were now looking at Vietnam as a cheaper destination and imports from the country would rise in the coming months, said leading processors. Even in January, the processors had imported 662 tonne, mainly from Brazil. While the Indian exports during April 2006-January 2007 had increased to 22,270 tonne valued at Rs 230.32 crore, the exports in January alone were 1,917 tonne worth Rs 26.79 crore.

Rubber Closes Flat

Kottayam: Spot rubber closed flat on March 10. Sheet rubber closed unchanged at Rs 87 and Rs 87.50 a kg respectively at Kottayam and Kochi as on March 9. On NMCE, the March contract increased sharply to Rs 89 (87.06), April to Rs 92.56 (90.44), May to Rs 96.65 (94.54) and June to Rs 100.22 (97.84) per kg for RSS 4. The open interest stood at 15,678 (15,579) lots with 4250 lots in March, 5031 lots in April, 5090 lots in May and 1307 lots in June. The transactions totalled 2,853 (2,385) lots. Physical rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 87 (87); RSS-5: 86 (86); ungraded: 85 (85.25); ISNR 20: 86.50 (86.50) and latex 60 per cent: 62.10 (62.10).

Dollar Chana Prices Up Rs 300/quintal In Indore

Indore: The prices of double dollar gram went up by Rs 300 in the prominent mandis of Indore in the last two days. The prices of the commodity was between Rs 3100 and Rs 3250 a quintal. This is the direct fallout of the Centre's decision to free the export of dollar gram from all export restrictions. According to traders, the decision will benefit lakhs of farmers of Malwa and Nimar. Earlier, the government had put a cap of 20,000 tonne on the export of dollar chana from Madhya Pradesh. Later, the limit was raised to 50,000 tonne. The prices quoting in the Indore mandi then were around Rs 3,500 a quintal. Because of the export restrictions, huge stocks of the commodity have been lying unsold in the godowns. Meanwhile, arrival of wheat in the mandis of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra has been good, with daily arrival of around 2-3 lakh sacks. The light quality wheat is selling below the minimum support price (MSP) level of Rs 750 a quintal in mandis of these states. This year, the total yield is anticipated to be 760 lakh tonne, more than the last year's ouput by 60,000 to 70,000 tonne around. The market rates of wheat in Indore have come down by Rs 80 to Rs 90 a quintal.

Pepper Likely To Gain On Tight Supply

Every dip in the futures market is a good opportunity for the investors to buy pepper in the wake of the current tight supply position in the domestic and world market. At present, the market is fluctuating depending upon the financial muscle power of the bulls and the bears. In the international market, offers from Vietnam is expected to commence from mid-March. But, according to latest information prices there are likely to rule high contrary to expectations. According to Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), this year's weather is inconvenient for pepper cultivation, as a result, black pepper volume for export will be reduced by 10 per cent. VPA is searching for material sources from Cambodia and Indonesia to make up for the deficiency.
On the other hand, foreign investments are said to taking place in Vietnam in pepper processing and marketing and that might also contribute to good quality and a consequent increase in prices. Meanwhile, since the prices are ruling high overseas buyers are waiting for prices to drop after selling pressure builds up in Vietnam later this month. In the futures market, prices declined marginally on bearish operations. Investors who had sold futures are ready to buy spot NCDEX delivered. On NCDEX, March contract dropped by Rs 45 a quintal to close at Rs 12,352. The decline in other contracts was from Rs 6 to Rs 29 a quintal. On NMCE, March contract fell by Rs 79 a quintal to close at Rs 11,601. The fall in other contracts was from Rs 40 to 81 a quintal.

Cardamom Prices Fall On Supply Rise

Cardamom prices plummeted an average Rs 5 a kg at Wednesday's weekly auctions held by Cardamom Processing and Marketing Co in Kumily following the rise in supply. Arrivals this week went up to 65 tonne compared with 52 tn a week ago, and this had weakened sentiments. Though more than 80 per cent of the 2006-07 (Mar-Apr) cardamom crop has already been harvested, prevailing climate with good moisture levels may aid the remaining crop. Demand from exporters remain static at 5 tn also kept sentiment down, dealers said. Top quality 8mm bold grades fetched a high price of Rs 475 a kg compared with Rs 470 a week ago.

Govt Bans Futures Trading In Wheat, Rice

Mumbai: India, the world's second largest producer of wheat and rice, has prohibited futures trading in the two commodities to bring down the fastest inflation in two years. Trading will come to an end once existing contracts expire on the nation's three exchanges including the NCDEX, the Forward Markets Commission said. According to the source, the government took this step due to the mounting political pressure to combat inflation. Wheat for March delivery plummeted as much as 1 per cent to Rs 947 per 100 kg on the National Exchange. Contracts for June and July declined 2.8 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively. Wheat had gained 26 per cent in the past 10 months, tracking a 35 per cent gain on the Chicago Board of Trade. The value of trades on the 24 commodity bourses touched Rs 27.4 trillion ($619 billion) between April and December, surpassing Rs 21.55 trillion for the year ended March 2006, as economic expansion in China and India, the world's fastest-growing economies, sent metals and energy prices to records. A surge in turnover has raised the pressure to halt trading in food staples, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said on February 21. Of late, the government brought down import duties on cooking oils, steel, aluminum, copper, cement and chemicals such as sulphur, and cut prices of auto fuels. Last week, the government said it will sell 365,000 tonne of wheat at below market prices to cushion consumers from rising food prices.