Pepper futures fall on weak demand, low Vietnam prices

MUMBAI, April 9 (Reuters) - Indian pepper futures fell on Wednesday as exporters were not getting enough orders due to lower prices in Vietnam, analysts said.

"Prices in Vietnam are coming down as traders are offloading their stocks due to the arrival season," said Alimuhammed Lakdawala, an analyst with Anand Rathi Commodities.

Indian prices are ruling at $3,800 per tonne, while in Vietnam prices have come down to $3,500 from $3,700 a week ago, he said.

Vietnam is the largest pepper producer and exporter and low prices there hurt Indian export.

However, future prices are likely to recover in coming days on low arrivals as domestic growers are holding back their stocks due to a sharp fall in the last few days, said Faiyaz Hudani, an analyst with Kotak Commodity Services Ltd.

The benchmark May contract has fallen about 7 percent in the last one month, the exchange data showed.

May pepper would get support at 14,480 rupees and face resistance at 14,870 rupees, Lakdawala said.

Spot pepper rose 0.3 percent to 14,687 rupees per 100 kg in spices hub of Kochi in Kerala.

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