Tur dal has been selling around ₹200/kg mark in the retail market for past several months. Now chana dal has also crossed ₹100/kg in retail trade as the ex-mill chana dal price has reached ₹93/kg in Indore and ₹86/kg in Akola, two prominent hubs of chana dal processing in the country.
In the domestic market, prices of unprocessed chana have increased for the third consecutive week. They were up by about 5% in a week and by over 10% in a month, showed data compiled by trade body Indian Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA).
“Expectation of lower production and farmers and traders holding back stocks and demand at all levels anticipating further increase in prices had been driving chana dal prices upwards,” said a trader from Maharashtra, who requested not to be identified.
After India removed the import duty on chana on May 7, 58,000 tonnes of chana were imported from Australia in March by diversion of the commodity in transit. According to trade estimates, consumers are not likely to get much respite from high chana prices as the availability in the international market is low, while the demand for chana flour (besan) goes up during the monsoons.
The ex-mill sugar prices in Maharashtra have increased by ₹100/quintal in the last one month to around ₹3600/quintal driven by strong demand. “Sugar demand stayed strong due to intense heat wave conditions in the country,” said Abhijit Ghorpade, a sugar broker from Maharashtra. Sugar prices are expected to stay firm in the coming months.Wheat prices have risen by 4-5% in past 15-20 days. This has led the processing industry to demand import of wheat to prevent wheat shortages during the lean period after Diwali.
