Commodity bourse MCX today increased the amount (margin) investors need to deposit for trading in cardamom futures by another 5 per cent.
With this hike, buyers need to deposit 28.64 per cent of the value of cardamom if they intend to take in, instead of 23.64 per cent margin fixed earlier. While, sellers have to deposit 13.64 per cent instead of 8.64 per cent.
"As a risk management measure, the exchange has decided to levy a special margin of 5 per cent on buy open position and 5 per cent on sell open position in cardamom contracts," MCX said in a circular.
The extra margin is applicable to both commodity brokers as well as individual traders, it said.
In a bid to check price volatility, the exchange on May 7 had increased by 10 per cent the margin on buyers side alone.
"Margin is increased both on buyers and sellers to curb speculative price movement in cardamom prices, which have risen by 30 per cent in the last one month due to supply-demand mismatch," commodity brokerage firm JRG Wealth's analyst Chowda Reddy said.
Cardamom futures prices have touched a peak of Rs 1,644 per kg from a low of Rs 1,248 per kg over the last one month, he said. At present, the June contract is trading at Rs 1,440/kg.
Production of cardamom, which is largely grown in Kerala, is expected to be down by 15 per cent this year. Last year, as much as 9,500 tonnes of cardamom was produced in the country, according to trade data.
Meanwhile, spot price also stood firm at Rs 1,500 per kg at Vandanmedu in Iduki district of Kerala, which is the country's largest physical market for cardamom.