Tur Price Plunge To Spice Up Your Platter

MUMBAI: Prices of tur, or red gram, have fallen 19% in the physical market within a fortnight on new crop arrivals and subdued demand, traders said. In Latur, a major pulses trading hub, prices of tur, also called arhar, fell to Rs 2,400 per 100 kg on Thursday, from Rs 2,950 on December 13. In other major spot markets, too, prices have fallen by nearly the same margin.

“The new crop arrivals have started from Maharashtra and Karnataka, and crop is also good,” said Ashok Dhoot, a trader based in Jalgoan, Maharashtra.

Tur accounts for more than 50% of the country’s total kharif pulses production. Pressure from arrivals will increase in coming days and prices may go down by another Rs 100-200, said Nitin Kalantri, a trader from Latur. However, he said, prices will not fall sharply as there is less stock of last year’s produce.

Last year, bad weather, pest attack and diseases had affected tur output and pushed up prices sharply.

Commodity market regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) had indefinitely halted tur futures trading in late January, when prices had risen to Rs 2,500 per 100 kg.

Tracking tur, chilli prices too eased in lacklustre trade on Thursday due to profit-taking, prompted by a weak spot and bumper crop hopes, analysts said.

The benchmark February contract on National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) had risen 13% so far in December. In Guntur, a major trading hub, the spot price fell by Rs 9 to Rs 4,096 per 100 kg. Arrivals will rise significantly after mid-January from Andhra Pradesh, a leading producer, and may pull down prices, said an analyst at Kotak Commodity Services Ltd.

In other commodities, turmeric fell in active trade on Thursday tailing weakness in the spot market, where arrivals increased as high prices prompted farmers and stockists to bring in more produce, analysts said.

Analysts said demand has decreased at higher level and increased arrivals are softening spot prices. In Nizamabad, a major trading hub in Andhra Pradesh, the spot price fell by Rs 43 to Rs 2,641 per 100 kg.

Futures may witness profit-booking in near-term, but they will go up in the long term on firm demand, said an analyst at Kotak Commodity Services.

Analysts said a lower crop estimate is providing traders an opportunity to speculate. According to traders, in 2008 turmeric output may fall by around 22% to 4.2 million bags each of 70 kg.