Pulses Mart Faces Bearish Phase

Due to tepid demand, better arrivals and appreciating rupee, the pulses market in the country is going through a bearish phase. And the trend is expected to continue for another fortnight. Chana has been hit the hardest. Commodity analysts said unless the chana market recovered, improvement in tur, urad, and moong (which also weakened in the last two weeks) market conditions was highly unlikely. In Delhi, the spot prices reached a level of Rs 2,225 a quintal, a fall of over 9 per cent from the previous day. Three weeks ago, the prices were hovering above Rs 2,450 a quintal level. In Latur, the rates slumped to Rs 2,275 a quintal, a drop of Rs 75 a quintal in the last 7-10 days. According to market reports, chana output from Rajasthan would be much more than the estimated 6 lakh tonnes.Bikaner, a delivery centre for chana in Rajasthan, witnessed arrival of close to 30,000 bags on April 25. A majority of the state's chana crop is heading towards Delhi. On April 25, around 700 tonnes reached Delhi mandis. Sources in the mandis there said a further dip of Rs 25-50 a quintal was on the cards. Analysts, however, believed the overall scenario was bullish, and that the total country-wide output would be 50 lakh tonnes instead of the earlier estimated 55 lakh tonnes.