Sluggish demand from gram flour mills pulled down chana prices by Rs 50 a quintal on Tuesday. However, chana futures rose marginally.
In the spot market, kanta chana ruled at Rs 4,850-4,900 a quintal, while desi chana ruled at Rs 4,700. Kanta chana had risen to Rs 5,250 a quintal about a fortnight ago. Subsequently, profit booking at the higher rate and lower demand from flour mills due to import of Australian chana brought chana down to as low as Rs 4,850 a quintal last week. The Australian chana costs Rs 5,000-5,100 a quintal.
Traders expect chana to rise in the near future on demand during the Ganesh
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in its recent reports have also forecast a steep rise in prices of chana and its dal during Diwali this year, because of higher import prices of lentils and shortage.
Due to a lower crop, chana prices in the past one year have gone up by Rs 1,800 a quintal. Last year, chana on September 1 was ruling at Rs 3,200 a quintal.
Chana dal ruled stable even as demand for pulses remained sluggish. In the spot market, average dal in mandis here ruled at Rs 5,925-5,950 a quintal, medium dal at Rs 6,025-6,050, while bold dal (bold) ruled at Rs 6,250-6,275 a quintal.
Dollar chana, which had risen to Rs 8,200 a quintal few days ago on strong export demand, has dropped in the past two days to Rs 7,500-7,800 a quintal amid arrival of 600 bags, as local and export demand has fallen. In the past three days, dollar chana has declined by Rs 400 a quintal. Similarly in the container, dollar chana prices have declined by Rs 100 a quintal on weak export demand. On Tuesday, dollar chana (42/44 count) ruled at Rs 8,900 a quintal, 44/46 count at Rs 8,700 a quintal, 46/48 count at Rs 4,600, 58/60 count at Rs 7,300 a quintal and 60/62 count at Rs 7,200 a quintal.