Chickpeas: traders hope for demand to increase
Mundus-Agri: The Indian organisation NAFED still owns most of the available commodities, but does not release them for sale due to low market prices. The arrival of the Tanzanian crop is likely to put additional pressure on sales.
Crop from Tanzania arrives.
Demand in the Indian chickpea market has weakened considerably in recent weeks, which is also reflected in decline in export prices. However, traders believe this is likely to be short-lived as upcoming holidays should boost buying interest again. Arrivals continue to be good, with reports of around 1,000 to 1,200 bags reaching the major spot markets in Gujarat daily. Most of the remaining available commodity is held by large stockists and the government - the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) alone is said to have nearly 3.2 million mt of chickpeas left. The federation had purchased the commodity at the minimum support price and since market prices currently remain below this, they have no way of releasing large stocks. Further sales pressure is likely to be exerted by the arrivals of the crop from Tanzania in the Indian market, which are expected to arrive this month.