Import prices of tur, which were hovering around $1,100 per tonne at Indian ports until first two weeks for February, have come down to as low as $850 per tonne recently, weighed down by Indian crop harvest, said traders and analysts.
New crop tur has started arriving in spot markets of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and thus have pressurised the local prices. Tur is currently trading at 35-37 rupees a kg, down by 5-10 rupees from January. Similarly tur dal prices are trading at 50-55 rupees a kg in key wholesale markets, down by 5-10 rupees.
"We are expecting Indian crop size this year at around 22 lakh tonne, which is lower than usual 23-24 lakh tonne output. But it is still higher than what we had estimated a month ago because of adverse weather in key growing areas during crucial growth period," said Reena Gomes, agro-trading manager with Indore-based Ruchi Group.
Tur is planted in summer season in Jun-Jul period and is harvested next Mar-April. India imports around 3 to 4 lakh tonne tur annually from Myanmar and African countries to meet its 27-28 lakh tonne demand.
"The import rates shot up in January because of chilly weather in key growing areas of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. But as weather concerns eased, the prices declined too," said Gomes.
Besides, lower domestic demand for the pulses also affected the rates, commented experts.
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"Currently cheaper vegetable is eating away the market of tur. Once the vegetable supplies start fading, we hope tur prices may go up post-April", said a Mumbai-based pulses analyst.
Amidst lower demand and expectation of better availability of the pulses, India has scaled down imports, thereby affecting the rates , added Gomes.
"Currently the PSUs (public sector trading units) are not buying on large scale basis, which is why the prices are lower. On the other hand, the crop size is good in Burma. So I don’t think prices will shoot up like last year," said the Ruchi Group official.
Tur dal prices had skyrocketed to Rs 100 per kg last year on production short fall in both domestic and global key producing areas.