Bullish trend sweeps pulses mart

After a long lull in the market, bullish trend is sweeping across the pulses segment. Late arrivals, crop damage and rising demand are the major driving forces taking the prices up, both in the futures and in the physical market. Market experts expect the bullish trend to stay at least for another 2-3 weeks.

Tur showed a striking change. Last week, it was trading between Rs 2,100-2,200 a quintal, which on Monday touched Rs 2,500 a quintal mark in the physical market. Traders and analysts said that the levels were to stay for the time being.

"Strong momentum in the physical pulses market is driving the prices up," said Akshita Bhatt, analyst with Kotak commodity.

In Latur, one of the largest pulses centres in the country, Tur arrival was reported to be between 18,000-20,000 bags. Last week, the tur arrival was between 8,000-10,000 bags as against the current requirement of 25,000 bags.

"Arrival of Tur is poor and qualitywise also, the crop is not up to the mark. The prices are going to stay at these level for the time being," said Sanjay Darak, a Latur-based pulses trader. There are reports of damage to tur crop in Karnataka. But according to analysts, damage may not be considerable.

Urad jumped in the futures by over Rs 100 a quintal during the day. In the physical market, it was quoted at around Rs 3,475 a quintal in Jalgaon against Rs 3,317 a quintal prevailing last week. "On urad front, market is witnessing buying from the southern states," said Bhatt. She added that compared to the spot rates, urad futures are heavily discounted, indicating futures may see further strength.

Rabi crop of around 2.5 lakh tonne is expected from Andhra Pradesh in the second half of February. At the same time, sowing of urad crop in Orissa is also good.

As expected, Chana contract for February delivery is inching closer to the prevailing spot prices across the country. In Madhya Pradesh, arrival has not yet started. Satna-based trader said it would start only after mid of next month. Meanwhile in Latur, chana arrival is far lesser.

"Arrival of chana is late here. At present, it is in the range of 1,500-2,000 bags per day as against the demand of 10,000 bags," said another Latur-based trader.