Mumbai - Jeera and black pepper futures extend previous recovery and moved upside with slight gains amid continued buying during initial hours of session on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Thursday. Turmeric and red chilli futures, however, failed to carry forward gains and slipped into the negative area due to speculative selling on the exchange.

Making the previous recovery larger, jeera futures moved northwards with slight gains amid continued buying by traders and speculators during early hours of session on the NCDEX Thursday. At 10.27 am IST, March jeera contract jumped Rs 95 to trade at Rs 8,545/quintal. Benchmark April futures traded up Rs 53 at Rs 8,715/quintal. Volume for Mar and Apr contracts was 39 and 993 tonnes respectively.

At the spot markets Wednesday, jeera prices jumped Rs 100/quintal at the main spices market Unjha in Gujarat. Jeera prices are higher at Jodhpur market in Rajasthan as arrivals are very low and traders are procuring jeera from Unjha, resulting in its higher cost. Demat stock at NCDEX-monitored warehouses, as of March 17, was 543 tonnes.

Black pepper futures also continued with the bullish trend and collected more gains due to speculative buying on the NCDEX Thursday. At 10.21 am IST, March black pepper futures gained Rs 13 to trade at Rs 14,741/quintal. Benchmark April contract traded up Rs 18 at Rs 15,233/quintal. Volume in Mar and Apr contracts was seven tonnes and 458 tonnes respectively.

Spot black pepper recovered by Rs 100/quintal despite limited demand at the main market Kochi Wednesday. Traders say, domestic demand has stopped with the approaching end of the current fiscal year. Traders are busy updating the account books. Traders are optimistic that demand for black pepper will increase in both domestic and international markets from April.

Turmeric futures failed to carry forward gains and succumbed to the pressure of profit-booking by traders at the beginning of the session on the NCDEX Thursday. At 10.26 am IST, April turmeric contract dropped slightly by Rs 14 to trade at Rs 3,288/quintal with a volume of 2,090 tonnes. Benchmark May futures traded down Rs 10 at Rs 3,370/quintal with a volume of 1,790 tonnes.

Spot turmeric traded up Rs 25-Rs 50/quintal at Erode and Warangal markets Wednesday. The main market Sangli in Maharashtra remained closed as the entire city plunged in water following heavy rains last night. 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.

Red chilli futures got rid of the previous mixed trend only to slip into the red territory amid bearish trend among traders on the NCDEX. At 10.27 am IST, benchmark April red chilli contract went down marginally by Rs six to trade at Rs 4,200/quintal with a volume of 230 tonnes. The settlement of NCDEX March red chilli contract was done yesterday at Rs 3,744.65/quintal.

Spot red chilli traded up Rs 50/quintal amid decreased arrivals at the main market Guntur in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday. The Guntur market witnessed arrivals of 50,000 lakh bags of red chilli today. Traders from Bangladesh, Malaysia and Sri Lanka purchased 20,000 bags. Demat stocks of red chilli in NCDEX-monitored warehouses were at 30 tonnes while 30 tonnes were in process as of March 18.