Urad, Tur prices soar 15% over past 6 weeks

The prices of tur dal and urad dal have increased by more than 15% in the past six weeks, due to waterlogging raising concerns about crop damage, a slight fall in acreage in the ongoing kharif season and lower carry forward stocks.

The ex-mill price of good quality tur dal in Latur in Maharashtra has increased to ₹115 a kg from ₹97 about six weeks ago.

According to the latest sowing data released by the agriculture ministry, the area under tur was 4.6% lower compared with a year earlier, while that under urad was 2% less.

Heavy rainfall in key tur growing areas and the resultant water logging have raised concerns about crop damage.

“Currently, fundamentals in tur are strong. There is no big carry over stock, while the seeding of tur has reduced due to a shift of farmers towards soyabean,” said Harsha Rai, importer of pulses in Maharashtra.

She added: “We are expecting a consignment of 5,00,000 tonnes from Africa, which will come by August/September.”

The urad crop is likely to suffer more damage due to the excessive rainfall. However, the supply situation may not come under pressure as imports are expected to increase.

B Krishnamurthy, managing director of 4 P International, said: “Though there is some damage to the urad crop in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat, the crop in the largest and second largest producers, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, is in good condition.”

Krishamurthy expects that despite rain damage, urad prices would likely remain comfortable as imports from Myanmar were expected to grow.

“India did not get much urad from Myanmar during the last four months due to their currency issues, which reduced the monthly urad imports by more than 50%. Now the currency issue has turned favourable for the exporters from Myanmar, which will help us import more urad from Myanmar,” said Krishnamurthy.

Meanwhile, consumers have got some relief on prices of masur, which remained high for a year. The price of the imported whole lentil has declined from ₹71.50 a kg on June 29 to ₹67 as on August 8. “Canada is currently harvesting masur crop, which is expected to be 40% higher than the previous year. As India is importing masur at zero duty, traders are liquidating their old stocks, bringing correction in prices,” said Rai.

“Due to high prices, we witnessed a considerable demand destruction in masur. If tur prices remain strong, we may see masur being substituted for tur to some extent, keeping masur prices supported,” she added.

Chana and moong dal prices have remained range bound.