Spot Jeera Trades Steady amid Stagnant Arrivals, Weak Futures; Eyes on Acreage Data

Mumbai (Commodities Control) - Spot jeera prices were generally steady for most of the varieties in Unjha and Rajkot mandis. Futures ended lower on Monday

On NCDEX, December and April futures moved lower by Rs 85 and Rs 20 to settle at Rs 14,125 and Rs 14,325 per Quintal. On Friday, the futures ended sharply higher.

Meanwhile the market is eyeing the sowing trends in the coming harvest. The latest sowing data from Gujarat showed that the acreage under Jeera stood at 50,496 hectares as on 17th November 2020, marking a sharp spurt of 156% compared to 19,723 hectares at the same time last year.

Today Unjha mandi reported arrivals of 14,000 bags of jeera, unchanged from the last session. Meanwhile all the jeera varieties were stable here. Rough variety of Jeera was quoted at Rs. 2250-2320 per 20 kg. NCDEX Jeera was priced at Rs. 2365-2470 per 20 kg. Bombay Bold was quoted at Rs. 2620-2720 per 20 kg and Best quality was quoted at Rs 2570-2620.

In Rajkot, most of the jeera varieties were priced steady, barring Europe and Super Quality that were quoted higher. Europe quality traded at Rs. 2550-2625, up Rs 25. Singapore quality was quoted unchanged at Rs. 2450-2550 and discolour was quoted steady at Rs. 2400-2450. Meanwhile super quality was quoted at Rs. 2650-2700, up Rs 50. Meanwhile, Europe-Mundra was quoted at Rs. 2880-2900 and Singapore-Mundra at Rs. 2790-2800 per 20 kg. The mandi reported steady arrivals of 800 bags unchanged from last session.

Analysts see price pressure for jeera in the coming days. FISS estimates 2020-21 jeera output in Syria at 30,000 tonnes vs 17,000-18,000 tonnes last year and for Turkey the production is pegged at 12,000-15,000 tonnes vs 5,000-7,000 tonnes. Indian jeera benefitted in the last two years due to lower output in the two producing countries, however production rise in these will affect demand for Indian spice, thus capping further price rise.