Overview on Pepper, Jeera, Turmeric: Geojit Comtrade

Geojit Comtrade has come out with its report on Pepper, Jeera & Turmeric.

Pepper: Most pepper futures closed down on limited activity in the Apr-12 0 spot market. However, December contract closed up on short covering. According to Indian Pepper and Spice Trade Association, spot price of garbled and ungarbled pepper stood stable at Rs.33500 and Rs.35000 per 100 kg respectively. As per market source, Indian parity was quoted at a competitive rate in the international market at $7000-7050 per tonne for Europe and $7300-7350 per tonne for US. Kuching grade black pepper in Malaysian market was priced at RM15500 per tonne. Fresh crops are expected to reach the domestic market by December- January; meanwhile rainfall in major growing areas and ongoing agitation on Mullaperiyar dam may affect the harvesting activities. Indian pepper output is likely to be around 43000 tonnes in 2012 against 48000 tonnes in the previous year. According to IPC, the global output of the spice in 2012 is likely to rise due to high production in Vietnam. Vietnam production is estimated to be 1 lakh tonnes in 2011-12 against 95000 tonnes in 2010.

Jeera futures ended down tracking the fall in spot prices due to likely rise in output of the spice. Sowing progress and output estimates are weighing on the price trend. According to latest data from Unjha Agricultural Produce Market Committee, the production is expected to be high as the farmers have re-sown those crops which were affected due to the hot weather occurred during the sowing period. Higher return last year prompted farmers to plant more crops this year and the acreage is expected to touch 3 lakh ha, up from near 2 lakh ha last year. Jeera output in India is expected to be near 3.8 million bags in the year 2012. Jeera arrivals in the Unjha market stood unchanged from previous day at 2500 bags. The spot price was quoted at Rs.14300 per 100kg.

Turmeric futures ended down due to high output estimates. The December contract hit the lower circuit. As per market sources, the total production of turmeric in the current year is likely be 85-90 lakh bags against 65 lakh bags that were reported last year in the same period. Moreover, higher carryover stocks in major mandis at around 20-22 lakh bags are also pressurizing the prices. In Nizamabad, turmeric arrivals were at around 1000 bags, up from 300 bags on Friday, while in Erode arrivals stood at 6000 bags, down 3000 bags from last day. In Nizamabad, the finger variety was quoted at Rs.5400 per 100 kg, while in Erode prices were at Rs.4200 per 100 kg. As of 10th December 2011, turmeric stocks at NCDEX accredited warehouses were 4307 tonnes, up from same period last week.

Cardamom: Supply disruption has affected the trading activities in major spot markets in Kerala. Cardamom auctions in Kerala have been stopped for more than a week period due to the ongoing agitation with Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the border. The agitation over the Mullaperiyar dam has affected road traffic across the border of Keral and Tamil Nadu and thereby there was no proper movement of cardamom to the auction centers located at the border towns in both the states. The overall outlook is, however, bearish due to high output estimates for 2011-12. According to trade sources, cardamom production in India is estimated to be 15000 tonnes and Guatemala productions are expected to be near 25000 tonnes.

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