Weekly: Red Chilli & Black Pepper Tumbles, Jeera Gains

MUMBAI (Commoditiescontrol) – Spot Jeera prices gained top position in spices complex during the week ended on Friday while, Red Chilli and Black Pepper prices plunged due to sluggish domestic and export demand followed by adequate stock position.Turmeric and Coriander remains staedy throughout the week

Rates of Black Pepper/Chilli in Rs/Kg; Coriander, Jeera and Turmeric in Rs/100Kg:

Commodity	Market	Last Close	1 Week	1 Month	3 Month	6 Month	1 Year
Black Pepper	Kochi	429	-2.05%	-5.51%	-14.88%	-19.21%	-37.10%
Red Chilli	Guntur	98	-2.97%	11.36%	18.07%	50.77%	-18.33%
Jeera	Unjha	19083	1.46%	0.98%	-2.34%	3.67%	2.14%
Coriander	Kota	4855	0.50%	2.86%	-2.90%	-14.31%	-36.15%
Turmeric	Nizamabad	7358	0.23%	-3.74%	2.75%	32.86%	-2.27%

BLACK PEPPER:

The spot pepper slide by 2.05% during the week ended on Friday on availability of huge volumes of Pepper imported into India from Sri Lanka and slack demand, trade sources claimed.

Consignments of imported pepper waiting for releasing at ports and ICDs are being released, at present and it is available in some of the consuming centres.

Once these materials are exhausted, demand for indigenous produce would start. Current domestic demand per month is estimated at around 4,000 tonnes, according to trade sources.

The demand is expected to pick up in the coming days as winter buying has began in the upcountry markets.

The new crop in India is likely to hit the markets after mid-December, sources said.

Further, exports shrunk 13% year-on-year to 3,900 tonnes in the quarter ended June. In FY17, pepper exports had plunged 37% to 17,600 tonnes.

Exporters said in the current year, shipments could drop further and may touch about 15,000 tonnes, close to the quantity exported five years ago.

There is no demand for Indian Pepper, which is priced at $7,000 per tonne compared with $4,000 of Vietnam and $3,500 of Brazil, said one of the major exporters.

RED CHILLI:

Spot Red Chilli Teja variety prices plunged by 2.97% at the benchmark Guntur market during the week ended on Friday as the domestic and export demand turned sluggish on prospects of adequate stock position.

Last week demand for Teja variety was good and the prices rose around 4% on prospects of lower production this season due to virus attack and good export demand from China, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Lately, there are anticipations of lower availability of premium deluxe quality stock but the exact numbers cannot be described as the stock is stored in cold storages, said a trader from Guntur.

Further, crop position in Bellary (Karnataka) is said to be good so far and the area declined by 30% in that area against last year due to lower rates this year.

Meanwhile, Red Chilli prices are expected to trade sideways or down despite of lower crop prospects as sufficient stock is available in the market to cater domestic and export demand.

The overall production is estimated around 70% as compared to last year production though the prices will remain under pressure due to higher carry over stock.

Red Chilli stock is pegged around: Khammam-5 lakh, Madhira-4 lakh, Mahbubabad-4 lakh, Warangal-5 lakh, Hyderabad-1 lakh, Telangana-30 lakh ,Andhra Pradesh 63 lakh. (Figures in lakh bags, each bag=40kg).

JEERA:

Jeera prices in the benchmark Unjha spot market surged by 1.46% last week ending on Friday whereas prices of the most active December contract rose by 3.54%.

Uptrend in spot Jeera during the week was mainly attributed by the bullish trend on the futures market, said a trader from Unjha.

Jeera prices of the December contract on the National Commodity and Derivative Exchange Limited rose by 3.54% or Rs.680 at Rs.19,865/100Kg.

Market fundamentals are strong in Jeera as the stock available in the market is thin though enough to cater the domestic and export demand.

But if the domestic and export demand continues, the carry over stock this year will be less and the prices of the new crop will rise further.

Jeera crop at the NCDEX accredited warehouses as on November 17 was recorded at 5,894 metric tonnes against 986 metric tonnes during same period last year.

CORIANDER:

Coriander prices were more or less stable during the week ending Friday as the prices rose by 0.50% only at the benchmark Kota market of Rajasthan.

Coriander prices has plunged around 36.61% as compared to same period last year due to bumper production, later the market activities got affected by the implementation of the new tax regime GST and cheaper availability in the international market, according to a trade source.

Coriander prices are expected to trade sideways to down as ample stock is available in the market followed by subdued domestic and export demand.

Coriander sowing has started in producing belts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan and the area is expected to decline this year due to lower prices.

Further, at present there is selling pressure in the market as stockiest, traders wants to liquidate their old stock.

At National Commodity and Derivative Exchange Limited (NCDEX), Coriander’s most active December contract tad down by 0.1% or Rs.5 at Rs.5,013 per quintal.

Coriander stock at the NCDEX accredited warehouses as on November 17 was recorded at 8,416 metric tonnes against 14,274 metric tonnes during same period last year, as per exchange data.

Turmeric:

Spot Turmeric prices were more or less stable at the benchmark Nizamabad market during the week ended on Friday.

Buyers at present does not want to procure much and are buying as per their current requirement whereas sellers want to liquidate their old stock as new crop will hit the market by mid January.

Our sources have estimated that the production of Turmeric in 2017-18 will be around 60 lakh bags (each 70kg) and this year carryover stock is estimated around 25-30 lakh bags.

Turmeric outlook is not promising as sufficient stock is available in the market followed by 48,000 metric tonnes with AP Markfed and production estimates of 60 lakh bags.

Further, Turmeric most active December contract prices during the week end eased by 0.54% or 38 at Rs.7,032/100kg on the NCDEX.

(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau; +91-22-40015522)