Fresh arrivals likely to pull down pulses' prices

Futures prices of three major pulses "� tur, chana and urad "� are seen down this week due to arrival of new crop in spot markets and shipment from Myanmar, analysts and traders said on Tuesday.

Last week, tur or pigeon pea, chana or chick pea and urad or black matpe prices were higher as traders squared off positions ahead of the March contracts' expiry on Monday.

Now with traders focusing on April contracts, prices are likely to remain weak to flat over the next fortnight, an analyst said.

"Prices of chana should fall this week on arrivals from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the two main growing states," said Nirav Shukla, chief analyst at Angel Commodities.

Tur is also seen down as arrival of new crop from Vijaywada and Guntur, the largest spot markets of Andhra Pradesh, and Myanmar have accelerated, a trader said.

Myanmar tur is priced a bit higher, but will be offset by huge arrivals from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, another trader said.

Spot prices of tur depend on variety. For instance, tur from south Gujarat, that is bigger in size and brighter in colour, is priced 5-7 per cent more than tur from Maharashra and Tamil Nadu.

"Chana prices have been bearish, in spite of good crops in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, on delayed arrivals and fear of crop damage due to unseasonal rains," an Indore-based trader said.

"However, chana should trade lower compared to early March prices as the fear of crop loss is dispelled on reports of limited damage," a trader said.