Spot Jeera Settled Unchanged in Unjha amid Reduced Arrivals, Thin Demand; Futures Close Higher

Mumbai (Commodities Control) - Spot jeera prices were quoted unchanged on Friday in Unjha and Rajkot amid lower-to-steady arrivals, following holiday on Thursday on account of Makar Sankrati--the harvest festival. Meanwhile Futures settled in green on Thursday.

January futures settled Rs 120 higher to end close to Rs 12,710, while March futures ended Rs 60 higher to settle at Rs 13,170. Most-active jeera contracts closed lower in the previous session, due to weak demand as stockists await arrivals of the new crop. The new jeera crop is expected to hit spot markets in February. Ample carryover stocks in the market also weighed on prices.

Meanwhile, spot prices hold steady due to limited supply in the market as the end of the season approaches.

Today Unjha mandi reported arrivals of 4,500 bags vs 6,500 bags on Wednesday. All the jeera varieties were priced flat on Friday. Rough variety of Jeera was quoted at Rs. 2,100-2,170 per 20 kg. NCDEX Jeera was priced at Rs. 2,220-2,320 per 20 kg. Bombay Bold was quoted at Rs. 2480-2570 per 20 kg and Best quality was quoted at Rs 2,420-2,470.

In Rajkot, all the jeera varieties are steady. The mandi reported arrivals of 350 bags, unchanged from the last session.

The latest rabi sowing data in Gujarat showed that total area under rabi crops stood at 45.38 lakh hectares (lh) as on 11th January 2021, recording a rise of around 11% compared to 39.11 lh in the same period last year. The area under Cumin touched 4.68 lh.