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Marginal fall in pepper prices

G.K. Nair

KOCHI, Aug. 13

THE prices of pepper declined marginally on slow buying activity by exporters and selling pressure from the farmers in Kerala's Wayanad district.

The prices of ungarbled pepper dropped to Rs. 20,700 per quintal from Rs. 20,900 on August 5, while that of garbled fell to Rs. 21,700 from Rs. 21,900. Such a declinewas unlikely normally during the second Saturday week-end but this week it happened due to the selling pressure in the market from Wayanad growers, Mr. Kishore Shamji, President, Indian Pepper and Spice Trade Association (IPSTA), told Business Line.

However, such a trend was not visible in the Idukki district as pepper was smuggled out from there to Theni and Cumbum districts in Tamil Nadu and then sent to the North Indian markets. Similarly, from Coorg and Chickamaglur in Karnataka the produce foun d its way to upcountry markets.

The Wayanad producers had to depend exclusively on the exporters, whose agents procured from the primary market there. But now, when the farmers were wanting to liquidate the stocks the exporters were not buying as the latter had imported pepper from Ind onesia and Vietnam. Around 1,000 tonnes of pepper was expected to arrive here this month, he said.

On the other hand, cash-rich farmers in Wayanad district were buying pepper from the primary market at low prices anticipating the prices would rise in the coming months. These farmers had been guided by the trends shown on the Internet.

However, according to Mr. Kishore Shamji, the prices were unlikely to move up to such higher levels given the over-supply this year from all the sources. In the international market, Indonesia was offering pepper at $3,900 per tonne as against India's of fer of $4,800 per tonne.

According to him, Indonesia had already exported 6,000 tonnes of black pepper in June, 8,000 tonnes in July. This month about 7,000 tonnes were expected to be exported. The total production of black pepper was estimated at 25,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, in th e Banga Island of Indonesia where white pepper was largely produced and sold at lower prices, the farmers were now planning to export black pepper. In that event more black pepper was expected to arrive in the international market. Besides, the internati onal dealers in the US and Europe were now trying to depress the market, he said.

Also, the cloudy weather in Brazil was expected to delay the harvest there by three to four weeks. Hence the Brazilian produce would arrive in the market by mid-September. The prices quoted by Brazil were $3,900-$4,000 per tonne as against the last year' s $3,000-$3,500 per tonne. This year the crop production was estimated to be more than double of last year, he said.