Futures trading in potato kicks off

MUMBAI: Potato futures trading kicked off on the NCDEX on Thursday. The August contract opened at Rs 565 and closed at Rs 575. Total turnover witnessed for August and September contracts was Rs 9.5 crore, with the August contract accounting for Rs 7.4 crore and the September contract for Rs 2.1 crore. Volumes in quantity was 12,720 metric tonnes (August) and 3,620 MT (September). The August contract saw a total of 671 trades and the September contract 264.

The basis delivery centre is ex-Delhi cold storage. India is ranked fifth in potato production after China, the Russian Federation, Poland and Ukraine. Potato is mainly a rabi crop grown in UP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

During 04-05, India’s total potato output stood at 24.2m tonnes against 23.3 MT in ‘03-04. This year, output is estimated at 24.7 MT. On MCX, the near month (August 14 expiry) opened at Rs 564.2 and closed at Rs 563.1. Turnover in value was Rs 6.3 crore while quantity was 1.1 crore kg or 11,100 tonnes.