India turmeric futures ease on weak spot, demand

MUMBAI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Indian turmeric futures eased on
Monday tracking a weak spot market, where festive demand was
not picking up at the expected pace, analysts said.

Indians will celebrate Diwali, a major Hindu festival, over
the next week, when demand for spices usually rise.

"The demand is still steady. Traders had been expecting it
to rise sharply ahead of festive season," said an analyst at
Mumbai-based commodity brokerage.

In Nizamabad, a key spot market in the southern state of
Andhra Pradesh, the price fell by 25 rupees to 3,721 rupees per
100 kg.

An expected rise in the output in 2008/09 on favourable
weather was putting pressure on prices, said Vandana Bharti, a
senior analyst at SMC Comtrade.

Main turmeric producing states like Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu received good rains in August and
September, data with the weather department showed.

A weak rupee should support exports, but traders were
concerned the slowdown in developed countries may temper
demand, said Bharti.

The October contract on National Commodity and Derivatives
Exchange (NCDEX) expired on Monday.

Following are the closing prices of turmeric futures in
rupees per 100 kg on the NCDEX <0#NTM:>:

Contract Reuters code Closing price Change in %

==========================================================

Oct NTMV8 3,449 -1.57

Dec NTMZ8 3,563 -0.22

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Harish Nambiar)