Pepper market is seen weak and lacking direction with buyers keeping away from it for the past few days, traders said. Even low supply in India and reports of monsoon damaging the new crop has not given a direction to the market. Buyers are keeping their options open and waiting for the market to ease before covering their short positions in the global market.
The market could remain low but steady for some time and take a direction with the arrival of the Indonesian crop, P Nandakumar, a trade consultant from Kochi said. Availability in India is low and the domestic demand would keep the Indian market firm, he added. ?Vietnam has sold almost 50,000 tonne in the first 5 months of the current year despite Indian imports on the lower side. The US and European buyers have covered a bit and would prefer to wait for the Indonesian crop,? he said.
Nandakumar does not see a shortfall in the Indonesian crop, but would not be surprised if the crop arrives a bit late due to heavy rains in some regions of the country. ?The interesting part is that Vietnam is still selling strategically. When the market eases a bit, they are seen withdrawing. It seems that they are not in a hurry to dispose their stocks,? Nandakumar said. They are likely to sell in staggered lots to avoid depressing the market, he added.
Despite the domestic market remaining weak and range?bound, Faiyaz Hudani at Kotak Commodity Services is bullish on the short-run and the long run on the domestic supply factor. ?Fundamentals are strong. The domestic supply is small and the demand is good. Demand should increase with the festival season,? he said. ?Market should bounce back. Increased buying to cover the short position could trigger a good rally,? he added.
