High import booking rates to fuel pulses prices

The increase in import booking rates of pulses in the international market may further fuel the prices of pulses in the country. The last one month has seen import rates rising around 4-14 per cent.

"The spurt in booking rates can be attributed to the government's decision to import pulses," said an importer. The government last week announced the import of 1.5 million tonne in order to remove the supply constraints.

The booking rate of peas from Canada has increased to $370-375 a tonne from $340-345 a tonne a month back, said S P Goenka, a Mumbai-based pulses importer. "I do not see prices plummeting in the near future," he added. Similarly, the import rates from Burma (for urad and tur) have also gone up.

According to commodity analysts, the current price situation in the domestic market will not change much if import rates continue to go up. "Due to high import prices, which have shot up in the recent past, the importers are reluctant to import," said Navin Mathur, head of research, Angel Broking.

The import rates of Burmese lemon tur have shot up to $550-560 a tonne from $490 a tonne in mid-March. Urad has gone up by $640 a tonne from $610 a tonne during the period.

Analysts, however, said as the domestic chana season was on and the crop was expected to be good, there was no need for import of the commodity.