Black pepper futures wilt amid volatility

The black pepper futures market was highly volatile today with contracts touching an all-time high but ending in the red.

Market sources said the high futures prices was orchestrated by couple of operators over the last couple of weeks and, hence, a correction was inevitable.

The April contract had edged up to Rs 16,240 a quintal today but plummeted to Rs 15,670, May contract moved up to Rs 16725 and dropped to Rs 16,130, while the June contract saw a high of Rs 17,125 followed by a dip to Rs 16,560.

The July contract saw an all-time high of Rs 17,500, but dropped to Rs 16,931. Likewise, the August contract touched Rs 17,900 and then went down to Rs 17,200. The September contract saw a high of Rs 18,380 and a low of Rs 17,505 today.

A top official with a commodity brokerage said today's correction 'saved' the market to an extent that the drop was marginal. "If there had been a sharper correction, it would have impacted market sentiment badly," said the official.

Meanwhile, prices in Vietnam rose further, with $3100 for 500 GL, $3335 for 550 GL and $3750 for VASTA. The tag for VASTA has increased by almost $500 a tonne over the last one week.

A leading exporter told Business Standard that at the current tag of $3975, India is out of the export mart.

An interesting development on the global export front is the brisk trading in Indonesia. A leading trader, holding around 5,000 tonne black pepper, has offered to sell at $3,300.