Urad, chana prices on the rise
Myanmar fair average quality urad at Rs 2,928 a quintal; Akola-origin chana at Rs 1,890
| The increase in urad prices was due to speculation over shortage of stocks in the market. In fact, this worry put urad (black matpe) traders in a fix during the last week "" whether to correct their position or not. Yet, less sceptical traders went on to build their stocks in fear of availability crunch in the short time. | |
| Desi urad of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu origin, however, remained depressed. A combination of good arrivals and slack demand has put pressure on the desi segment to maintain its levels. | |
| A bulk vessel carrying around 13,000-14,000 tonne of urad is reportedly in the loading stage in Myanmar and may reach Mumbai port soon "" by the last week of January or the first week of February. So, February contracts are under pressure, traders said. | |
| Burmese FAQ was offered at a lower $480-490 a tonne range for the January-February shipment, while for the March-April shipment quotations fell down to the $460 a tonne level, without trade. | |
| Similarly, local (Akola-origin) chana (chick pea) prices increased about 3 per cent to Rs 1,890 in just one week as the sentiment in the local pulses market is upbeat. | |
| Chana of Indore-Kantewala origin and Delhi-Rajasthan origin, however, surprised spot traders when prices went down by Rs 8 and Rs 50 to end the week at Rs 1,882 and Rs 1,980 a quintal respectively. | |
| Chana is also in short supply due to expiry of the January contracts. Crop arrivals have started in Karnataka while that in Maharashtra will start at the end of January. Major producers like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are expected to start supplying chana in March. | |
| As for the north Indian markets, they are currently seeing good demand but limited supply. Although much-hyped supplies from Australia have reached they have had no major impact on the prices. And the situation is as such that despite a bumper crop being projected prices are likely to be on the higher side for another fortnight. | |
| While Australian chana was offered at a higher level of $375-380 a tonne, the Pakistani variety was offered at $360-365 a tonne. During the week, on Ncdex, chana futures for the February contract moved in the range between Rs 1,821 and Rs 1,762. | |
| Although, open interest and volume did not show any significant gain, traders are expecting good gain in prices in the week to come. | |
| The rabi crop, which is likely to touch mandis in south India from February onwards, is not likely to fulfil the entire demand but will definitely slow down buying in the region. Burmese crop can reach India only by March-April. So, amid the shortage of import cargoes in Mumbai, further speculative movement on the higher side cannot be ruled out, traders said. | |
|
| |