Weekly Update on India’s Chana (Gram) Market/
May 16-21, 2022

Highlights from the past week:

• Chana market is under stress due to less demand, high production, high procurement and good arrivals.
• Lower prices of pea (matar) also affecting overall demand for chana.
• Except in Karnataka where the procurement deadline is over, chana is being procured in the rest of the states. Last week, about 2 MMT were procured against the target of 2.9 MMT. Procurement may touch 2.5 MMT.
• Stocks in the government poll reached 3.3 MMT against a target of 2.3 MMT. Moong stock is 0.31 MMT, urad 0.03, tuar 0.011 MMT, lentils 0.07 MMT. 
• As per the third advance estimate, chana production may reach 13.98 MMT, 17.4% more than the 11.9 MMT produced last year.
• The MP procurement target this year is 0.87 MMT, in Rajasthan it is 0.575 MMT and in Gujrat it is 0.536 MMT. Chana procurement is expected to meet targets in all states except Rajasthan.
• Traders and millers believe this stock may be used in the future to monitor prices, as  has been seen in the last few seasons. 
• Production of chana in the main producing states (as compare to last year):
• Gujrat 2.14 MMT (+49%)
• Rajasthan 2.72 MMT (+20%)
• Maharashtra 2.76 MMT (+15%)

• Due to high prices of cotton, soya, paddy and maize, sowing of pulses is expected to be affected in the coming season. Sowing of tuar may be reduced by 10-15% in 40-45 lakh hectares. The demand for other Kharif crops has also increased as compared to pulses.
• Tuar sowing is expected to decrease by 15-20% in Maharashtra, 12-15% in Karnataka, 15-20% in Madhya Pradesh. 
• Urad sowing may be less than last year as prices are not attractive.
• The rupee has depreciated against the dollar, causing a higher import parity.

Rundown of Indian Markets

Prices fall due to sluggish demand

Delhi
Chana prices continue to fall due to lack of customer support. Demand from processors also remains slow due to less buying from wholesalers. Lower prices are causing millers’ margins to reduce.
Due to sluggish demand, Delhi chana prices are trending lower and fell by Rs 25/50 per quintal to Rs. 4,800 per quintal on the Madhya Pradesh line and Rs. 4,860/4,875 per quintal on the Rajasthan line.

Port
Buying of imported chana is disappearing due to falling prices of desi gram. Mumbai prices declined by Rs. 200/250 per quintal due to weak buying and Tanzania prices fell to Rs. 4,200/4,250 per quintal over the weekend.

Rajasthan
Due to continued selling pressure and a lack of demand, Rajasthan prices fell by Rs. 75/100 per quintal and Jodhpur sold at Rs. 4,400/4,450, Jaipur Rs. 4,775/4,825, Bikaner Rs. 4,750, Sumerpur Rs. 4,350/4,375 and Kishangarh at Rs. 4,300/4,400 per quintal.

Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh also traded lower due to decreased buying from millers. Last week, Indore Chana sold at Rs. 4,800/4,850, Katni Rs. 4,800/4,850, Pipariya Rs. 4,400/4,650, Ashok Nagar Rs. 4,600/4,675 and Ganjbasoda remained stable at Rs. 4,400/4,600 per quintal.

Maharashtra
Maharashtra prices remained bearish, decreasing by Rs. 50/75 per quintal. Latur traded at Rs. 4,500/4,625, Amravati Rs. 4,200/4,350, Akola Rs. 4,550/4,700, Nagpur Rs. 4,575 and Jalgaon at Rs. 4550/4600 per quintal.

Karnataka
Against all odds, Gulbarga prices saw an upward trend of Rs. 50 with prices rising to Rs. 4,300/4,500 per quintal. 

Other
Due to the impact of all-round price decrease and weak demand, Kanpur prices fell by Rs. 50 per quintal to Rs. 4,800/4,850. Similarly, Raipur prices reduced by Rs. 75 and traded at Rs. 4,600/4,650 per quintal at the weekend.

Chana Dall
As demand for gram dal remained sluggish, prices fell in most markets by Rs. 100/175 per quintal to Rs. 5,250/5,900.

News Blurbs

Government estimates of total pulse production to reach 27.746 million tons

New Delhi. In its third advance estimate, the Union Agriculture Ministry has predicted a jump in the total domestic production of pulses to a new record level of 27.746 million tons for the 2021-22 season. Reviewed production numbers are much higher than last year’s 25.463 million tons and also above the target of 25 million tons set for the current year.
The production of Kharif pulses is expected to decline to 8.25 from 8.618 in 2020-21, while the production of Rabi pulses is expected to jump from 16.845 million tons to 19.496 million tons. 
According to the report, production of tuar improved from 4.316 to 4.35 million tons, gram from 11.911 to 13.983 million tons and urad from 2.23 to 2.759 million tons while lentil production fell by 1.494 million tons to 1.444 million tons and mung is also expected to decline to 2.846 million tons to 30.85 million tons as compared to last year.
The production of other Kharif pulses is expected to decline from 0.799 to 0.62 million tons while the production of other rabi pulses is expected to improve to 1.744 million tons from 1.628 million tons. 
In 2020-21, the production of Kharif pulses was estimated at 8.618 million tons and Rabi at 16.845 million tons while in 2021-22, these are estimated at 8.25 and 19.49 million tons, respectively. 
According to government estimates, the production of urad has increased from 1.507 to 1.799 million tons in the Kharif season and may increase to 0.96 from 0.723 in the Rabi season. On the other hand, production of moong fell to 1.48 from 1.996 million tons in the Kharif season and is expected to jump to 1.365 from 1.089 million tons in the Rabi season. The production numbers of urad and moong also include those of the summer crop, of which both sown areas have increased significantly. 

Karnataka releases third advance estimate of agricultural production for the 2021-2022 season

Bangalore. The Agriculture Department of the Karnataka government has released the third advance production estimate of agricultural crops for the entire marketing season of 2021-22. The data shows that the production of all commodities - except soybean and sugarcane - has decreased as compared to 2020-21. The production estimates include rice, ragi, maize, tuar, groundnut and cotton, among others.
According to the data, the production of rice in Karnataka declined from 4.717 to 4.067 MMT, maize from 6.372 to 5.338 MMT and ragi from 1.369 to 1.079 MMT in 2021-22 as compared to 2020-21.
Tuar production is likely to fall from 1.238 to 1.145 million tons

Sowing area of summer crops reached 7.358 million hectares

New Delhi. Despite the decrease in the sown area of paddy, maize and groundnut, the total area of summer crops has increased to 7.358 million hectares this year, which is 5.4% more than the sown area of 6.981 million hectares in the same period last year.
A significant increase in the area of pulse crops was also recorded: compared to last year, the total sown area of pulses increased by 23% to 2.141 million hectares from 1.742 million hectares. The sowing of mung increased by 21% from 1.443 million hectares to 1.748 and urad by 40% from 0.264 to 0.369 million hectares.

Abbreviations

Tuar/ Arhar: Pigeon Peas PP
Mung: Green Mung
Urad: Black Matpe
Chana: Gram, Desi Chickpea
Matar: Pea
Masur: Lentil
Besan: Gram Flour
Mandi: Market yard
Bhav: Prices
Dal/Daal: Processed Pulses (Directly for human consumption)
Rs: Indian Rupees (1$=Rs 77.54) 25 May  22 at 02:10 PM IST

Rahul Chauhan
Director, IGrain India
igrainind@gmail.com
+91 9350141815
Twitter igrain_india