Turmeric May Contract, Support Seen At 3470 Levels

Turmeric futures (May) are likely to take support above 3470 levels, due to increased stockists buying and a fall in the daily supplies outweighing higher production. The lower prices at the spot markets seems to be very attractive for stockists who are buying to stock for the long term. At Nizamabad, turmeric was trading at 3,211 rupees per 100 kg down 55 rupees.

Pepper futures likely to trade sideways with a positive bias due to slack domestic supplies on the back of a decline in the output while reduced penalty on delivery defaults may cap the downside. In Kochi, a key market in Kerala, spot prices fell 136 rupees to 37,558 rupees per 100 kg due to sluggish trading activities.

Jeera futures are likely to trade higher owing to strong overseas demand amid a squeeze in the spot supplies. Domestic supplies at Unjha, a key market in Gujarat, reduced to around 18,000 bags of 60 kg.

Pepper Demand Fragile, Imports Continue

Pepper trading range for the day is 36560-37840. Support for the pepper is seen at 36930 and below could see a test of 36560. Resistance is likely to be seen at 37570, a move above could see prices testing 37840.

Pepper prices in the intra-day may trade sideways owing to fragile demand by the local stockists. There are also reports of improved imports of cheap pepper from Vietnam into India which is likely to pressurize prices. Also, expectation of fresh arrivals of pepper from Malaysia in the short-term (May) may provide support to bears in the market.

Spot prices of pepper continued their bearish trend and settled 0.38% lower on Wednesday owing to fragile demand from the overseas and domestic buyers.

However, futures witnessed improved buying at support levels and settled 1.04% higher yesterday. Reports of cheaper imports of pepper from Vietnam into India also supported bears in the market.

Exports from Indonesia posted significant decrease of 42% as compared to previous year. Exports stood at 36,500 tonnes as compared to 62,599 tonnes in the last year.

Arrivals of pepper in domestic market stood at 8 tonnes while offtakes were 5 tonnes on Wednesday. Global pepper production in 2012 is expected to increase 7.2% to 3.20 lakh tonnes as compared to 2.98 lakh tonnes in 2011 with sharp rise of 24% in Indonesian pepper output and in Vietnam by 10%.