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COMMODITY PRICE INDEX

COMMODITY PRICE INDEX After climbing from $2,100 a tonne last July to $3,300 in early February, black pepper has lost its zip. Prices have fallen to $3,100 a tonne. Traders blame a scheme by the Indian government to clamp down on pepper speculators by enforcing big cash deposits on trading positions. Still, pepper prices may continue to rise. Heavy Indonesian rains, crop disease in Brazil and rural migration in Malaysia have drained world stockpiles. European and American black-pepper grinders have had to rely more heavily on the Indian crop, estimated at 55,000 tonnes this year (about a third of the world total). This year, India plans to open an international pepper-futures exchange.

This article appeared in the New Articles section of the print edition under the headline “COMMODITY PRICE INDEX”

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