Jeera spot and futures prices may remain steady-to-firm over the next few days on increased offtake by upcountry traders supported by lower carryover stocks and shortfall in the new crop expected in Gujarat.
Jeera March 2009 contracts at the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange of India (NCDEX) were traded at Rs 11,240 a quintal on Thursday. Jeera June 2009 contracts prices on Wednesday resumed trading and quoted higher at Rs 11,940 a quintal up by nearly Rs 400 over benchmark contracts.
?The market is weather-driven. With the fog conditions in some parts of Gujarat, traders expect the crop to be lower by 10%-15% in 2009 on unfavorable weather conditions,? a local trader said.
Spot prices at the Unjha market yard are hovering around Rs 1,800-Rs 2,500 per 20 kg depending on quality.
?The overall crop of new jeera in Gujarat and Rajasthan is expected to be the same as last season. But this year the yield is believed to be lower than that of last year. New arrivals from Saurashtra have reached to 15,000-16,000 bags (each of 50-55 kg) daily. There are export enquiries from Dubai, so the export demand may remain steady,? Amrutbhai Patel, a leading dealer and president, chamber of commerce (Unjha) told FE.
New inflows from Rajasthan will commence in the next 15-20 days. The picture will be clearer about quality. Total crop is expected to around 28-29 lakh bags, Patel added.
There are lower stocks with exchanges and stockists in the domestic market.
?Jeera prices are likely to find support around 11,000 from where the overall upward trend is likely to resume. We continue to hold our bias up for the target of Rs 12,800 with reversal below Rs 10,800,? an analyst with Sharekhan Commodities said.
The new crop from Turkey, Iran, and Syria are to arrive in the markets only in July and August, which would also be supporting the price of Indian jeera, the analyst added.