Mumbai - Bearish sentiments at the beginning of the week pulled spices futures down on the domestic exchange as traders continued to sell heavily amid growing apprehensions of more stringent steps from the government in order to check the ever-rising inflation rate. While jeera futures traded down sharply on heavy profit-booking, black pepper, turmeric and red chilli also went down during initial hours of trade on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Monday.

After accumulating more than two per cent gains during the last weekend, jeera futures dropped into the red zone as traders and speculators resorted to profit-booking with the beginning of the session on the NCDEX Monday. The futures were trading sharply down during the morning hours. At 10.28 am IST, NCDEX May jeera lost Rs 200 to trade at Rs 10,927/quintal. Benchmark July contract traded down Rs 181 at Rs 11,525/quintal. Volume for May and July contracts was 249 and 1617 tonnes respectively.

Spot prices of jeera jumped Rs 200/quintal at the main spices market Unjha in Gujarat Saturday. Around 15,000-16,000 bags arrived at Unjha today. Traders say, arrivals in the physical markets will start declining sharply henceforth. The new crop from Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and Iran will arrive in the market in June. As of May 09, demat stock of jeera at NCDEX-monitored warehouses was 212 tonnes.

Giving up some of the last weekend's gains, black pepper futures slipped slightly into the negative area amid speculative selling during early hours of trade on the NCDEX Monday. At 10.22 am IST, NCDEX May black pepper dropped Rs 29 to trade at Rs 13,813/quintal. Benchmark June contract traded down Rs 21 at Rs 14,100/quintal. Volume in May and June contracts was 138 tonnes and 461 tonnes respectively.

Spot black pepper prices remained steady at the previous level Saturday as exports and domestic demand has declined in the spot market. The global production of black pepper has been recorded at 259,500 tonnes while carry-forward stocks as on January 01 were 85,000 tonnes. As of May 09, demat stock of black pepper at NCDEX-monitored warehouses was 6,416 tonnes while 105 tonnes were in process.

Turmeric futures also shed marginal profits of the last weekend and slide downwards amid selling by traders and speculators at the beginning of the first session of the week on the NCDEX Monday. At 10.25 am IST, NCDEX May turmeric slipped Rs 30 to trade at Rs 3,350/quintal with a volume of 1010 tonnes. Benchmark June contract traded down Rs 26 at Rs 3,464/quintal with a volume 2780 tonnes.

Red chilli futures too succumbed to the pressure of profit-booking and lost gains of the last weekend to trade weaker on the NCDEX Monday. The futures were trading slightly down during the initial hours of trade. At 10.33 am IST, NCDEX June red chilli dropped Rs 27 to trade at Rs 5,103/quintal with a volume of 460 tonnes. Benchmark August contract traded down Rs 12 at Rs 5,438/quintal with a volume 165 tonnes.