Delayed monsoon boosts guarseed trade

The delay in monsoons has pushed up the trade of cluster beans or 'guarseed' trade on the futures trading segment of the commodity exchanges over the last week.

The guarseed has clocked daily volumes of over Rs 120 crore at the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange of India Limited (NCDEX) in the past week.

"The demand for guarseed is generally high during this time, and the delay in the monsoon is further aiding the trade," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, NCDEX. Guar requires about 8-15 inch of rainfall in three-four spells.

On the NCDEX, the July futures of guarseed closed at Rs 1,448 on July 15, from Rs 1,428 last week. The volume was at 13,180 tonnes and had touched 35,080 tonnes last week. The open interest closed at 9,070 tonnes from 7,340 tonnes.

The August contract closed at Rs 1,555 from Rs 1,471 last week. The open interest stood at 21,100 tonnes and the volumes traded were 45,590 tonnes.

The September delivery contract closed at Rs 1,593 from Rs 1,488 last week, with an open interest of 10,660 tonnes and a volume of 21,200.

On the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE), the August contract closed at Rs 1,420 from Rs 1,188 last week. The turnover for the August contract as on July 15 stood at Rs 2,27,640.

India accounts for 80 per cent of the total cluster beans production and 70 per cent of it is cultivated in Rajasthan. Apart from Rajasthan, it is being grown mainly in Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab.

It is also grown in some parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.