With area under sowing for chana or chick pea taking a hit due to erratic weather conditions, traders expect import to rise sharply in the next two months. Increased availability due to imports is likely to pull down chana prices by around 10-15 per cent by February next year from its current levels.
"Chana prices have already hit a high of Rs 4800 to Rs 5000 per quintal in August to October period. We expect about 500,000 tonnes of chana imports this fiscal. This will improve the availability and will soften the prices," said Suresh Agarwal, vice-chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association.
According to Agarwal, chana sowing has dropped this year owing to erratic monsoon conditions. Also sowing for overall pulses has dropped this year. As per the government data, rabi sowing under pulses is reported lower at 6.3 million hectares this year as against 7.61 million hectares last year.
"This effectively means that the acreage under chana could slide eventually and output could be hurt. The NCDEX Chana futures had recovered steadily during first three weeks of October as the impact of early influx of arrivals in pulses from Kharif season wore off. The futures have dropped from highs of Rs 4369 per quintal to Rs 4000 levels in a span of around three weeks and are lingering around Rs 4100-4200 per quintal now," said analyst firm Capitaline.
On Tuesday, Chana futures for immediate delivery contract on NCDEX stood negative at Rs 4341 per quintal.
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