Chana weakens on arrival surge, barley firms up

With normalcy returning in Rajasthan, spot rates of chana have dropped. Market observers termed the last week's rise a short-term phenomenon and expected the market to remain weak on lacklustre demand and abundant stocks.

The spot, which has reached a level of Rs 2,225 in mandis of Delhi few days ago traded at Rs 2,175-2,180 a quintal - a decline of Rs 50 a kg. "As the highways towards Delhi were clear, the arrival surged to 650 tonnes today," said Biswajit Lahiri, analyst with Agriwatch Commodities.

Last few days witnessed the low arrival, sometimes touching 250-300 tonnes a day.

Marketmen added that last week saw demand slightly going up, but "it could not sustain and rates tumbled", said Akshita Bhatt, commodity analyst with Kotak Commodities.

The other vital factor stoking bearish sentiments in the chana market is the adequate stocks available in the warehouses of National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (Ncdex) and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), amounting to over 30,000 tonnes.

However, on the guarseed and barley front, things are different. Barley continued its rising trend from last week. On Wednesday, the spot rates in Jaipur were at Rs 750 a quintal, a rise of Rs 25-30 in the last four days.

"As it is the off-season now, arrival is weak. Demand is continuous and we expect it may go up by another Rs 10-15," said Abhishek Agarwal, a Jaipur-based trader.

Guarseed market rates are still range-bound. In Bikaner, spots were at Rs 1,740-50 a quintal. The movement in the last couple of days has been in the range of 1,740 to 1,760 a quintal.

"There were some export enquiries, but the market trend is controlled by the monsoon. Moreover, stocks in the local market is substantial but no major demand has popped up so far," said market sources. They added that an indication of a better monsoon has in fact stoked bearish sentiments in the market.

On Ncdex, the near-month contract of chana slipped to Rs 2,212 from the previous close of Rs 2,225 a quintal. The guarseed futures closed at Rs 1,757, down by Rs 33 a quintal compared to the previous close.

Guarseed hit as high as Rs 1,817 in the initial hours of trading, but following the news from meteorological department it slipped," said an analyst. Barley futures firmed up to close at Rs 787 against Rs 783 in the previous day.