Mumbai - Negative trend prevailed heavily upon red chilli as sharp gains were ripped off from the futures amid profit-booking on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Wednesday. The futures were trading sharply down during initial hours of trade. Jeera, black pepper and turmeric futures also extended losses of the previous session and traded in the red territory on the exchange.

Aggressive profit-booking by traders continued to pull red chilli sharply down during initial hours of trade on the NCDEX Wednesday. At 10.17 am IST, March red chilli contract immersed Rs 101 to trade at Rs 4,019/quintal with a volume of 160 tonnes. April red chilli contract was trading down Rs 91 at Rs 4,190/quintal with a volume of 235 tonnes.

At the spot markets Tuesday, red chilli traded unchanged at the main market Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Arrivals of red chilli were recorded at 1.10 lakh bags here today. India is likely to produce 13.5 lakh tonnes of red chilli this year. Last year the production was of 11.5 lakh tonnes.

Traders continued to book profits in jeera futures. The futures shed all the recent gains and were trading lower on the NCDEX Wednesday. At 10.15 am IST, March jeera contract dropped Rs 51 to trade at Rs 9,355/quintal. Benchmark April futures were trading down Rs 60 at Rs 9,520/quintal. Volume for Mar and Apr contracts was 48 and 654 tonnes respectively.

Spot jeera remained steady in the domestic market Tuesday. Rains and bad weather in the main jeera-growing district of Jodhpur in Rajasthan have increased fears of low production in the region. Farmers say, jeera crop may be damaged if weather does not become favourable soon. Though the crop is in good condition at the moment. The new crop of jeera is likely to arrive in the markets in Rajasthan with a delay of 20 days. However, around 100 bags of new jeera is already reaching across the State through nominal arrivals.

Black pepper futures eased further on heavy pressure of selling and were trading in the red zone during initial hours of trade on the NCDEX. At 10.13 am IST, March black pepper futures went down Rs 55 to trade at Rs 14,700/quintal. Benchmark April contract was trading down Rs 31 at Rs 15,140/quintal. Volume in Mar and Apr contracts was 10 tonnes and 293 tonnes respectively.

Black pepper traded down Rs 200/quintal in the domestic market Tuesday. Spot prices of black pepper in the Indian market are not stable due to the highly volatile futures market. The market is likely to see selling pressure at the end of the fiscal year. However, buyers are staying away from the market at this moment.

Turmeric futures remained in the red territory amid continued profit-booking by traders and speculators on the NCDEX Wednesday. At 10.14 am IST, April turmeric contract lost Rs 44 to trade at Rs 3,261/quintal with a volume of 1,430 tonnes. Benchmark May futures were trading down Rs 56 at Rs 3,319/quintal with a volume of 730 tonnes.

Spot turmeric traded down Rs 50/quintal at almost all the major domestic markets Tuesday. Traders say, the total production if turmeric in the country this season will be around 40 to 42 lakh bags (each of 70 kgs), which is less than the 55 lakh bags produced in the previous season.