MUMBAI (Commoditiescontrol) - India urad SQ (Black Matpe) and Matar (Pea) gained last week, whereas masoor (Lentil), tur (Pigeon Pea), moong (Green Gram) and chana (Chickpea) edged lower in the absence of demand.
Burma Urad SQ (Chennai) - Urad SQ variety gained second successive during week ended Saturday due to good demand from local and upcountry millers and traders mainly due to festive buying (Pongal). Domestic urad market was also supported by negigible supplies from overseas. Further The prices are still around lower level which has prompted millers to turn active for their futures requirements. Urad price during the week ended 5.3 percent higher at 6,950/100Kg. Urad SQ variety moved in the range of Rs 6,500 to Rs 7,100 during the week.
India government targeting 2.15 million tonnes urad production in 2016-17, including 1.45 million tonnes from kharif and 0.70 million tonnes from Rabi. The governemnt in its first advance estimate projected kharif urad production at record level of 2.01 million tonnes.
Some more gain can't be ruled out in urad due to good demand in processed urad from retailers and whole salers counter for monthly buying, but may face resistance at the higher level due to expectations of record production this season and also new crop of Burma urad expected from mid of January 2017 month.
Canada Pea (Mumbai) - Canadian pea managed to recover from previous week low (Dec 12-17 ) losses and settled last week with gain of 1.9 percent at Rs 2,325/100kg at the key Mumbai pulses market. Increased demand with reluctant selling by importers at the lower level helped prices to recover in domestic market. Matar being cheapest in pulse complex is in good demand and used as substiture for chana dal and besan, which is uncompetitive. Since chana prices are costlier, domestic buyers prefered to source matar to processed matar dal and besan.
According to shipping agency the country has imported around 4.35 lakh tonnes of matar in the month of November. Around 66 percent of imports were contributed by Canada. Canada is likely to harvest record 4.8 million tonnes of matar in 2016-17. Harvest has completed there and now it is loading the commodity for various destinations, including to main consumer India.
Matar in the near term unlikely to witness sharp gain due to strong supply from overseas followed by good rabi sowing. According to agri ministry matar as on December 23 has been sown in 9.4 lakh hectares compared with 8.8 lakh hectares last year.
Desi Masoor (Kanpur) - Masoor edged lower to 21-month low at Rs 4,800/100kg at the key Kanpur market of Uttar Pradesh during the last week mainly due to lackluster demand and good sowing progress of rabi crop followed by ample supply from overseas. Record crop projection in Canada and U.S mainly weighed on prices. Further domestic millers are sideline and not in hurry to source the commodity as they anticipate that ample supply will keep prices around current level and they can source any time for their requirements.
According to shipping agency India imported 115,145.833 metric tonnes of lentil from various destinations and most of them were sourced from Canada. Canada is likely to dominate and may try to offload their most of their produced due to record production.
According to agriculture ministry masoor sowing in the country as on December 21 stood 1.57 million hectares against 1.30 million hectares same period a year ago.
Further fall in masoor prices can't be ruled out due to slow demand, expectation of bumper production if weather remains favorable until harvest followed by record crop in Canada and U.S.
Imports of masoor in the coming weeks is likely to slowdown due to holiday mood ahead of Christmas and New Year holiday. According to reports Bulk loading of masoor from Canada are ahead of last year, but only by thin margin.
Lemon Tur (MUMBAI) - Burma lemon tur extended losses and fell as much as 3 percent to settle last week at Rs 4,800/100kg, lowest level after December 11, 2015. The weakness in tur prices were mainly attributed to lackluster domestic demand due to rising supply of new crop followed by ample supply from overseas. Demand in tur dal (Processed tur) is said to be poor mainly due to ample availability of vegetable, which is used as closed substitute for tur dal. New crop supply is improving day by day with continuous flow from overseas has weighed on sentiments.
According to shipping agency 6,912 metric tur arrived at Mumbai port last week.
Tur is likely to remain weak in the near term pressured by weak demand coupled with rising supply from domestic and overseas markets.
Desi Moong (Jaipur) - Moong dropped 2.2 percent at Rs 4,500/100kg, lowest level since August 31, 2015 at the benchmark Jaipur market due to slow off take and flow from local new crop. Bumper production has pushed moong prices below MSP level of Rs 4,850/100kg. However Nafed is active in buying moong from various state but process in slow. Nafed sourced around 87940.92 metric tonnes of moong as on December 23. Nafed is buying pulses on behalf of government for buffer stock.
Moong prices so far this year has plunged nearly 39 percent. Moong made high and low of Rs 7500 and Rs 4200 during the year so far, while traded in the thin range of Rs 4,400 to Rs 4,600 last week. Further fall in moong prices can't be ruled, but demand around current level is likely to improve as buyers anticipate current level as attractive.
Desi Chana (Indore) - Chana slipped nearly 1 percent at Rs 9,700/100kg at the Indore market of Madhya Pradesh last week due to slow demand. Chana is facing poor demand from millers as demand has shifted to cheaper substitute like matar, which is available at much lower rates than chana. Further consumption of chana dal and besan dal been hurt badly due to higher rates. The consumption of chana is likely to drift lower ahead and prices may weighed by continuous flow from Australia and other origin.
Chana price may trade steady with negative bias, however sharp losses will be limited due to poor stocks and demand is now mostly met through imports until new local crop harvest. Meanwhile sowing of rabi is making good progress in the country and acreage as on December 23 stood at 89.20 lakh hectares versus 80 lakh hectares previous year.
According to shipping agency Nhava Sheva port (Mumbai) received around 24,624 metric tonnes of chana during last week from various destinations. Around 21,888 metric tonnes of chana arrived from Australia.
(By Commoditiescontrol Bureau; +91-22-40015533)