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Pepper prices fall

G.K. Nair

KOCHI, Jan. 4

PEPPER prices dropped during the early part of this week in the spot and futures markets on lack of buying support.

The prices of ungarbled MG 1 (new) fell to Rs 13,500 from Rs 13,700 per quintal and garbled to Rs 14,300 from Rs 14,500. Similarly, farther up positions also witnessed a drop of Rs 50-225 a quintal, Mr Kishor Shamji, President, India Pepper and Spice Tra de Association (IPSTA), told Business Line.

According to him, international players, dealers and retailers have filled up the requirement of end-users and they are now watching the market. However, in the New York spot market the prices witnessed a modest rise on Wednesday.

The arrivals here were also very thin. On Wednesday, only three tonnes of new pepper arrived in the market. Rains in the growing areas last week delayed the harvesting. However, the arrivals were expected to pick up on Friday, Mr Kishor said.