"The cyclone would lead to a one-month delay in shipments of urad and tur. Shipments to the tune of 50,000 tonnes is estimated to have been stuck," said K C Bhartiya, president of the Pulses Importers Association.
There has been no price impact in India so far from this delay. However, there is a likelihood of a price spike in coming days, he added. The country's rabi production of pulses this year declined by 6.4 per cent to 8.8 million tonnes, owing to a shift in acreage to wheat.
The cyclone has led to a price increase for rice in the international market, since Myanmar exports 500,000 tonnes annually. However, India does not import rice and therefore remains unaffected. Apart from affecting pulses import by private traders, the ban would also affect the import contracted by government agencies.
Nafed, for instance, is to receive urad shipments of 20,000 tonnes from the Myanmar. However, the delivery has got delayed. With stagnating production, India has continuously relied on imported pulses.
The country's per capita per day availability of pulses has provisionally come down from 41.6 gm in 1991 to 32.5 gm in 2006, says the latest Economic Survey. Pulses have a weightage of 0.60 per cent in the WPI.
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To cushion domestic consumers against a price rise in the commodity, the government has allowed duty-free imports of pulses. It has also put a ban on its exports.