Pulses throb on bourses in FY06

Prices of chana, lemon tur, urad, yellow peas up 31%, 20%, 127%, 19% respectively

Prices of pulses recorded impressive growth in the last financial year in the spot and futures markets on the back of rising interests of traders in commodities exchanges.

According to a section of pulses traders, spot prices are up on positive sentiment in the futures prices. Mills of pulses are suffering from dearth of raw materials, as traders are piling up stocks on hopes of higher prices in futures rather than supplying to mills.

Chana, lemon tur, urad and yellow peas surged 31.45 per cent, 20.14 per cent, 126.78 per cent and 18.85 per cent, respectively, on the Multi Commodities Exchange of India (MCX), while masoor "" launched on June 11, 2005 "" saw a negative growth of 2 per cent.

On the MCX, chana ended the year 2005-06 at Rs 1,998 a quintal against Rs 1,520 on April 2, 2005, while lemon tur rose to Rs 1,897 a quintal from Rs 1,579 at the beginning of the year. Urad shot up to Rs 3,472 a quintal from Rs 1,531 on April 2, '05 and yellow peas to Rs 1,261 a quintal from Rs 1061.

Similar annual gains were recorded on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) as well. On the NCDEX, chana surged 33 per cent to Rs 2,004.30 a quintal from Rs 1,507.50 and lemon tur jumped to Rs 1,902.05 a quintal from Rs 1695.30 a quintal. Urad zoomed 126.90 per cent to Rs 3,473.90 a quintal from Rs 1,531, while yellow peas rose 19.75 per cent to Rs 1,271.95 a quintal from Rs 1,062.20.

Masoor, launched on October 21 on the NCDEX, posted a negative growth of 4.38 per cent in five months.Again, in the spot market, while chana surged 40 per cent to Rs 1,972 a quintal from Rs 1,507, while urad zoomed 120 per cent to Rs 3,358 a quintal from Rs 1,531. Lemon tur rose 12 per cent to Rs 1,898 a quintal from Rs 1,695. Value added tax of 4 per cent is a factor behind the higher pulse prices, a Mumbai-based trader said.

On the MCX, in March, chana, urad, yellow peas and masoor recorded spectacular growth of 14 per cent, 24 per cent, 23 per cent and 13 per cent to Rs 2,071 (Rs 1,866 on March 1), Rs 3,472 (Rs 2,831), Rs 1,240 (Rs 1,008) and Rs 1,974 (Rs 1,764) a quintal respectively.

On the NCDEX, in March, chana futures for the near term contract rose 14 per cent to Rs 2,051 a quintal from Rs 1,849 and urad 22.94 per cent to Rs 3,441 from Rs 2,838. Masoor April contract perked up 12 per cent in March to Rs 1,958 a quintal from Rs 1,768.

Urad prices, in March, recovered their early losses and closed with a marginal change at Rs 2,008 a quintal from Rs 2,009 (on March 1) on the NCDEX and at Rs 2,000 a quintal from Rs 2,010 on the MCX.

Today, the spot market is driven by the future market as active and judicious traders do not trade in spot if futures look attractive and vice versa.

The price elevation in chana is mainly attributed to the estimated shortfall in production by 10-15 per cent in the year, coupled with anticipated demand from Pakistan, market sources said.

Traders believe chana prices will move further up on lower arrivals in the mandis. But, in contrast, arrivals may actually mount in April and, hence, prices may fall in the short term.

Decreasing supplies to mandis in Maharashtra are pushing up tur prices as harvesting has dried up in both Maharashtra and Karnataka, and is yet to start in Uttar Pradesh. Demand from long-term traders is also picking up. Meanwhile, imports from Myanmar have been on check on grounds of higher price and inferior quality. So, stocks with traders are being piled up.