Black pepper futures recover on poor supplies

NEW DELHI: Black pepper prices rose marginally by 0.5 per cent at Rs 14,200 per quintal on Monday on the country's leading commodity exchange, NCDEX, due to poor supplies.

At 1150 hrs, black pepper for the most-active August contract increased by 0.50 per cent at Rs 14,200 per quintal, while far-month September gained 0.45 per cent at Rs 14,530 per quintal.

It surged to Rs 14,540 per quintal at the outset of the session on short-covering. Rising prices in the spot markets largely on account of tight supplies from pepper-growing state, Kerala and firming trends mainly pushed up black pepper futures.

Spot prices of black pepper were ruling higher at Rs 14,473.30 per quintal at the spices hub, Kochi. Meanwhile, pepper exports during the first three months of 2008-09 fiscal fell 12.2 per cent to 7,550 tonnes.