India chilli futures erase gains on sluggish exports

MUMBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Indian chilli futures erased their early gains to end lower on Monday on lower export demand, analysts said.

"Export demand has come down in the last one month, which weighed on the sentiment," said an analyst with Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker Pvt Ltd.

India's chilli exports in August fell 12.7 percent to 16,000 tonnes, Spices Board data showed.

The early gains were due to scarcity of quality produce in the spot market and a likely fall in the acreage, said an analyst with a Mumbai-based commodity brokerage. Chilli acreage in 2008/09 may fall by up to 10 percent as some farmers have diverted area under the spice to more lucrative cotton, traders and analysts said.

Spot chilli was trading steady at 5,260 rupees per 100 kg in Unjha, a major trading hub in Gujarat.

Following are the closing prices of chilli futures in rupees per 100 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd. <0#NCB:>:

Contract Reuters code Closing price Change in %

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Oct NCBV8 5,154 -0.37