Good crop cues turn pulses bearish

The pulses market is set for a long bearish phase on the back of a rise in acreage and expectations of a better harvest.

Market analysts said the upcoming festival season would trigger an upward rally, but added that it would be in the short term. Arrival for the next season would pick up momentum soon, dragging down the markets, they added. 
 

PULSATING RISE Acreage in lakh hectares
	2006	2007
Tur	33.85	37.02
Moong	23.55	30.34
Urad	22.37	24.98
* As on August 23, 2007

The latest statistics on kharif pulses, which put their acreage at 112.85 lakh hectares, suggest that there is already an increase of 7.43 per cent in sowing. Moong alone, which is leading among pulses, is reported to have an increased sowing of 28.83 per cent compared with the last year's, followed by tur and urad, which have gone up by 9.36 per cent and 11.67 per cent respectively. Sowing of chana, which is a rabi crop, will begin in October. Kotak Commodity estimates the chana output for 2007-08 at 53 lakh tonnes, up 10 per cent from the last year's 48 lakh tonnes. The chana stock is currently close to 12 lakh tonnes and imports of around 2 lakh tonnes from Australia are also expected in November and December. Given the fact that the annual domestic consumption is 48 lakh tonnes, commodity analysts believe chana will be bearish in the long term.

Arrival of Urad has already begun and momentum is expected to build up by mid-September. Likewise, moong, from Maharashtra, in particular, will hit the market during the same period.