The government decision to waive off 10 per cent import duty on pulses — urad, chana, tur and guar — may have come as good news for the commom man but it has come as a jolt for the commodity markets.The prices of pulses on national futures commodity market fell across the board. ‘‘As expected, almost all the pulses have hit the lower circuit today. But this is just a kneejerk reaction. One has to wait and watch how much of the import benefit really flows into the country, whether there is any quantum jump in imports,’’ said Sanvali Kaushik, VP, products, NCDEX.At retail level, pulses prices have risen almost 50-60 per cent in the last three months. As there is no significant rise in demand, this is quite unreasonable. A few traders tracked the spurt in prices to hectic speculation in commodity markets.‘‘It is a very positive move. The prices of pulses have risen steeply of late due to tight demand and supply scenario. The import duty waive off will also bring down prices of some of the Burmese shipments expected next few weeks,’’ said Pankil K. Shah, head, Angel Commodities.At wholesale spot market gram and its dal traded Rs 50, each down at Rs 2,350-2,355 and Rs 263-268 per quintal respectively. Urad Maharashtra and rangoon were down by Rs 25 each at Rs 3,600-3,725 and Rs 3,200-3,225 per quintal respectively. The urad contract for near month fell by Rs 63 on the NCDEX while channa lost Rs 41. The June contract for Tur fell by Rs 77 on Friday.Huge demand for import from India and crop failure in some of the major pulse producing countries has pushed up international prices too. At present, urad of FAQ variety is quoted at $660 a tonne compared with $525 a tonne in January, chana at $485 a tonne compared with $365 a tonne in January and lemon tur at $350 a tonne versus $250 a tonne in January.‘‘The international prices are expected to stabilise at the current level or cool off a little bit as the new crop will hit the market next month. Moreover there is no assurance that the traders will go on an import binge just because duties are waived off,’’ said Shah. As expected traders have welcomed the government move though they are not sure how much the prices may fall. India imports pulses from Burma, Canada, Turkey, Australia and US. Buckling under tight demand and supply for pulses, Pakistan is chalking out detailed plans to import pulses in huge quantity. “With zero import duty in effect, some of the enterprising Indian traders might bid for Pakistan contract with an intention to import from other countries and then export it to Pakistan, which can be more profitable,” said Shah. By knocking off the duties, the government has now left it to the market forces to decide on the prices.
