CHENNAI:The Indian Pulses and Grain Association (IPGA), the apex trade body for the import and export of pulses, expects that the price of pulses would reduce by 10-15% in a fortnight. Triggering the expected decrease is the arrival of 2.5 lakh tonnes of pulses at Mumbai port over the last seven days. Another 25 lakh tonnes is expected in the next three months.
“Private importers, in view of the new crop in Canada and Australia as well as scarcity in India, have contracted 25 lakh tons of pulses to arrive between October 15 and January 31. Out of these 25 lakh tonnes of pulses, 2.5 lakh tonnes of pulses has already arrived at Mumbai port in the last five to seven days. We expect the prices of pulses to drop appreciably in a next few weeks on the back of large quantities of pulses scheduled to arrive at Indian ports,” Pravin Dongre, Chairman, IPGA, has said in a statement.
India consumes nearly 22 million tonnes of pulses annually and sources a large portion of yellow peas and lentils from Canada and the US. Chickpea, meanwhile is imported from Australia and Russia while Myanmar is the primary source of Green gram and pigeon peas. Imports of these goods are expected to be good. However, tur which has seen the largest increase in the domestic market, might not be that easy to bring to Indian shores. According to IPGA, tur would be in short supply till arrivals in India starts from December-end. An acute shortage in the global markets has seen imported tur prices double to $1,400 a tonne from $700 a tonne last year. IPGA also stated that the import of pulses could be hampered by the re-instated stock limits.