Prices of key pulses such as urad and peas have jumped 8-10% in the past three-four days after the Supreme Court rejected a number of petitions seeking exemption from restrictions on import of pulses.
Reports of likely cancellation of some import consignments of these pulses also supported prices, traders said.
"At Chennai port, 8,000-9,000 containers (1 container = 20-24 tn) of urad and tur and a vessel carrying 23,000 tn of peas have either arrived or about to arrive. There is uncertainty of how much of the quantity from these consignments would be allowed after the Supreme Court's verdict," said an official of a shipping, clearing and forwarding agency.
Reports suggest that the fate of around 3,000 tn of peas at Tuticorin port is also uncertain, as is that of a large consignment at a port on the western coast.
In Mumbai, prices of Canadian yellow peas have risen to 4,750 rupees per 100 kg and green peas to 7,150 rupees, up 8% from Thursday, said Pankaj Shah, a pulses trader at Vashi, Navi Mumbai.
Special quality desi urad was traded at 5,500 rupees per 100 kg in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, while Burmese special quality urad was also at 5,500 rupees in Chennai, both up 350-400 rupees from Thursday, said Satish Mittal, a local pulses dealer. "Supreme Court's decision has squeezed supplies from the major trading centres," he said.
In Akola, prices of good quality desi urad rose to 4,850 rupees per 100 kg today from 4,500 rupees last week, said pulses trader Santosh Goenka. Arrivals, he said, have suddenly fallen as traders and growers expect prices to rise another 20% in the next two months.
In 2017, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade had imposed quantitative restrictions on import of some pulses to protect domestic farmers from cheap imports. This was the case in 2018 too.
However, some importers from Gujarat had moved the state high court against the order, claiming they had signed contracts for huge orders before the notification was issued.
Similar applications were also made at the Chennai high court.
Several consignments of pulses have made their way to India, taking advantages of interim stay orders on import curbs secured by various small and medium traders at various ports. However, the apex court's decision last Monday cleared the decks for stricter implementation of the government's quantitative curbs.
The spike in prices of urad and peas comes at a time when arrivals of the domestic rabi crop have either started or are about to start , which will raise realisation of farmers. End
Source :- Cogencis.com
