Mumbai - Heavy profit-booking by traders and speculators pulled jeera sharply down on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Thursday. Red chilli futures too dropped heavily on profit-booking during the initial hours of trade. While turmeric futures shed the previous gains, black pepper futures were trading lower following the weaker trend of the previous session.

After struggling for direction in the previous session, Jeera futures lost all the recent gains due to profit-booking and speculative selling on the NCDEX Thursday. At 10.40 am IST, February jeera futures crumbled Rs 121 to trade at Rs 10,274/quintal. Benchmark March futures were trading down Rs 135 at Rs 10,544/quintal. Volume for Feb and Mar contracts was 363 and 2610 tonnes respectively.

At the spot markets Wednesday, jeera traded up at Jodhpur market in Rajasthan while prices were almost steady at the main market Unjha in Gujarat. The ongoing chill in Jalaur, Bheenmal, Sanchaur and Barmer districts of Rajasthan is proving to be detrimental for jeera crops. Around 20 per cent crop of jeera has been damaged by the cold weather so far in these areas. Traders say, the cloudy weather in the region will prevent development of jeera flowers, further strengthening the fear of insects.

After gaining almost 12 to 13 per cent during the last seven-eight sessions, red chilli futures extended the minor losses of the previous close and were trading sharply down due to profit-booking by traders and speculators on the NCDEX Thursday. At 10.38 am IST, February red chilli contract lost Rs 69 to trade at Rs 3990/quintal with a volume of 215 tonnes. March red chilli contract was trading down Rs 75 at Rs 3970/quintal with a volume of 270 tonnes.

The 334-variety of red chilli gained further by another Rs 100/quintal while prices of other varieties remained steady at the main market Guntur in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday. Traders say, red chilli prices are likely to decline after February 15 on pressure of increased arrivals. The market saw arrival of around 22,000 bags of new red chilli today while cold-storage red chilli arrived in 8,000 bags.

Reversing its direction, turmeric shed the previous gains and was trading lower during initial hours of the session on the NCDEX Thursday. At 10.43 am IST, April turmeric contract fell Rs 25 to trade at Rs 3022/quintal with a trade volume of 4350 tonnes. Benchmark May futures were trading down Rs 24 at Rs 3081/quintal with a volume of 1080 tonnes.

Spot turmeric traded stronger at all the major spot market, including Sangli, Erode, Warangal and Duggirala, Wednesday. Meanwhile, there are reports that the turmeric, which has been removed from fields and is being prepared, has been damaged in Nizamabad region.

Black pepper futures continued to trade sluggish on the domestic exchange Thursday. At 10.40 am IST, February black pepper futures dropped Rs 19 to trade at Rs 14,724/quintal. Benchmark March contract was trading down Rs six at Rs 15,050/quintal. Volume in Feb and Mar contracts was 58 tonnes and 733 tonnes respectively.

Spot black pepper traded unchanged at the domestic spot markets Wednesday. Traders are soon expecting export orders from the United States, where the current stocks of black pepper are about to finish. The US has not placed any big order for black pepper since September 2007. Though the country is facing credit crisis, it is likely to buy new crop from Vietnam and India.