Spot Jeera Ends the Week on a Steady Note, Futures Rangebound; Eyes on Acreage Data

Mumbai (Commodities Control) - Spot jeera prices settled steady on Friday across Unjha and Rajkot mandis of Gujarat. The spice had bounced back in the last session in Unjha. Futures settled mixed today.

The most-active December contract of jeera ended Rs 15 lower at Rs 13,750 and January futures settled Rs 30 higher at Rs 13,905 per Quintal.

Today Unjha mandi reported arrivals of 11,000 bags vs 12,000 bags of jeera in the last session. All the jeera varieties were quoted steady here. Rough variety of Jeera was quoted at Rs. 2200-2270 per 20 kg. NCDEX Jeera was priced at Rs. 2315-2420 per 20 kg. Bombay Bold was quoted at Rs. 2580-2670 per 20 kg and Best quality was quoted at Rs 2520-2570.

In Rajkot, jeera varieties were quoted unchanged as well. The mandi reported steady arrivals of 800 bags unchanged since last week.

Meanwhile, production of jeera is likely to fall 25% in the ongoing 2020-21 (Oct-Sep) rabi season as lower returns from the crop have prompted farmers to shift to other remunerative options. However, the drop in production is unlikely to boost prices of the export-oriented spice as the market is well supplied, said market experts.

Last year, India saw a bumper jeera crop due to sufficient availability of water for irrigation and good moisture level in the soil, which led to rise in productivity in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Experts note that it is still too early to forecast the crop size conclusively, but traders expect production to be 6.0-6.5 mln bags (1 bag = 55 kg), compared with 8.0-8.5 mln bags in the previous year.

Farmers in Gujarat have sown jeera across 302,637 ha as of Nov 30, against the total area of around 480,610 ha in the previous year, data from the state farm department showed.

In Rajasthan, the acreage may fall 5% compared to the previous year.