Govt mulls position limits hike in jeera, pepper

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| Volumes in pepper and jeera futures have declined sharply since FMC slashed position limits that are to be applicable from June 16 on contracts expiring in July and onwards. The regulator halved limits in pepper to 1,500 tonnes for members and 500 tonnes for clients, while for jeera, the near-month limit was reduced to 40 tonnes from 120 tonnes. |
| This has evoked sharp criticism from exporters and hedgers of these commodities and they have requested the regulator to restore the limits. Earlier, the FMC had maintained that the revised limits would not be restored. |
| The ministry of consumer affairs will discuss the matter with FMC and officials of the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange. Futures prices of pepper have already hit the first upper circuit of 4 per cent and jeera also rose over 2 per cent on expectation of relaxation in position limits. |
First Published: Jun 19 2007 | 12:00 AM IST