Mumbai Cuminseed and black pepper enlarged yesterday's around four per cent losses and declined sharply amid continued selling by traders and speculators during early hours on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Thursday. Red chilli and turmeric futures, however, gained marginally amid short covering to trade on the positive side. Coriander futures on the MCX also traded marginally up during initial hours of session.

CUMINSEED: Cuminseed futures enlarged sharp losses of the previous session and went down further amid continued selling by traders and speculators during initial hours of trade on the NCDEX Thursday. At 11.02 am IST, NCDEX September cuminseed dropped Rs 246 to trade at Rs 11,250/quintal. Benchmark October contract traded down Rs 211 at Rs 11,120/quintal. Volume for September and October contracts was 984 and 3573 tonnes respectively.

Spot cuminseed continued to trade weaker despite some demand from exporters and domestic traders at the benchmark spices market Unjha in Gujarat Wednesday. Traders say, the farmers, who were holding back their crop, are now bringing it to the market thus creating selling pressure. As of September 09, demat stock of cuminseed at NCDEX-monitored warehouses was 1,970 tonnes while six tonnes were in processing.

BLACK PEPPER: Continued heavy selling from traders compelled black pepper futures to shed sharp gains near two per cent during early hours of session on the NCDEX Thursday. At 11.02 am IST, NCDEX September black pepper drowned Rs 195 to trade at Rs 12,464/quintal. Benchmark October contract traded down Rs 191 at Rs 12,723/quintal. Volume in September and October contracts was 629 tonnes and 2103 tonnes respectively.

Black pepper traded down Rs 100/quintal in the domestic physical market Wednesday. Indian variety of black pepper is not finding buyers in the international market as Vietnam's cheaper variety is dominating the business. The Indian variety has lost competition due to its higher rates. As of September 09, demat stock of black pepper at NCDEX-monitored warehouses was 4,728 tonnes while20 tonnes were in process.

TURMERIC: Turmeric futures, which hit four per cent lower circuit yesterday, recovered from the heavy losses and traded up marginally amid short covering by traders during initial hours on the NCDEX Thursday. At 11.04 am IST, NCDEX October turmeric rose Rs nine to trade at Rs 3,575/quintal with a volume of 7790 tonnes. Benchmark December contract traded up Rs 14 at Rs 3,680/quintal with a volume 3150 tonnes.

Spot turmeric traded weaker at all major physical markets, except Sangli, Wednesday. As of September 09, demat stock of turmeric at NCDEX-monitored warehouses was of 3,019 tonnes while 49 tonnes were in processing.

RED CHILLI: After settling slightly down yesterday, red chilli futures entered the green zone but with negligible gains amid slow short covering by traders during early session on the NCDEX Thursday. At 11.04 am IST, NCDEX October red chilli rose Rs seven to trade at Rs 5,325/quintal with a volume of 165 tonnes. Benchmark December red chilli traded up Rs two at Rs 5664/quintal with a volume of 55 tonnes.

Spot prices of 334 and Sanam varieties of red chilli jumped by Rs 200/quintal amid sharp improvement in demand while other varieties traded steady at the benchmark market Guntur in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday. Exporters as well as domestic buying consistently in the market. Around 40,000 bags of red chilli from cold-storage arrived today. As of September 09, demat stocks of red chilli at NCDEX-monitored warehouses were at 1,396 tonnes while 25 tonnes were in processing.

CORIANDER: Coriander futures were trading marginally up amid short covering of previous losses by traders and speculators during initial hours of session on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) Thursday. At 10.52 am IST, MCX September coriander gained Rs seven to trade at Rs 7,985/quintal with a volume of 10 lots. Trading in benchmark October coriander had not stared till the filing of this report.