India pepper rise on low arrivals, Vietnam price rise

MUMBAI, June 26 (Reuters) - Indian pepper futures rose on a tight supply situation as farmers refrained from offloading their stocks and on talk of a price rise in Vietnam, analysts said.

"Supply situation is very tight. Traders are finding it very difficult to get sufficient quantity as farmers are not offloading stocks on hopes of a further price rise," said an analyst with Motilal Oswal Commodities Broker Pvt Ltd.

Arrivals in the physical market were about 30-40 tonnes, compared with about 50 tonnes last week, said Ajit Khona, a Kochi-based trader.

Talk of a price rise of about $100-$150 per tonne in Vietnam, the largest producer and exporter, also supported the prices, said an analyst with a Mumbai-based commodity brokerage.

Vietnam's four-month harvest ended this month with output reaching 90,000 tonnes. Exports in Jan-June period rose to 47,800 tonnes from 43,700 tonnes a year-ago.

The pepper industry in Vietnam aims to keep exports at 90,000-95,000 tonnes in 2008.

India is the second largest pepper producer and exporter.

Open interest for August contract rose to 7,496 tonnes from 7,104 tonnes the previous session.

Spot pepper rose 0.2 percent to 14,328 rupees per 100 kg in spices hub of Kochi in Kerala.