India Jeera Declines On Sluggish Exports; Seen Flat.

India's jeera futures closed lower on Monday as hopes of fresh arrivals hitting the market by mid-February weighed on sentiment while poor export demand also added to the fall, analysts said.

Analysts expect jeera futures to trade flat on Tuesday.

"Sentiment is down as traders are expecting prices to fall more, once fresh arrivals would start by mid-February. February contract may fall to 14,500 rupees per 100 kg," said Nalini Rao, analyst at Angel Commodities.

At Unjha, a key market for jeera in Gujarat, jeera fell 79 rupees to end at 14,707 rupees per 100 kg.

As on Jan. 10, in Gujarat, the biggest producer, area under jeera stood at 244,600 hectares, marginally higher than 242,700 hectares sowed a year ago, said J.H. Suthar, deputy director, state farm department.

In India, jeera is cultivated during winter from October to December, and harvested in February-April.

India's jeera exports in April-December fell 37 percent on year to 24,250 tonnes.

Following are the closing prices of jeera futures in rupees per 100 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd.

Source : reuters.com