Grains

Maize:    Prices of maize continued to remain range-bound in the past week; domestic arrivals in past week increased slightly week-over-week; however supply shortage and high demand from South Indian bulk buyers is keeping the prices up.

Rice: Basmati rice prices increased slightly in the past week, thanks to rising in local demand as well as export demand from Iran and West Asia.

Barley: Prices during last week increased week-over-week due to rising demand from malt makers and poultry feed industry.

Pulses: Domestic prices for pulses were rangebound in the past week, Chana future prices have been stable to weaker because of low demand from bulk buyers and expected higher arrival pace in large producing states of MP and Rajasthan.

Wheat: Wheat prices were steady in the past week despite increasing arrivals in domestic markets. Past week also witnessed volatile weather in North and West India, with untimely rains and hailstorms leading to some crop damage in Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Western UP.

Oilseed :

Soybean: Indore soybean prices were down due to lower demand and high stock availability in the market. Soymeal prices ruled steady but demand was poor. Fresh fall in overseas soy meal prices also affected local sentiment. Rising production estimates out of South America kept some caution in the bean global market.

Mustard:  Mustard prices in the physical market are lower on bumper supplies expectation in this season. As per Solvent Extractors Association of India, mustard seed output in 2018/19 is up by 19% on year at 8.1 MMT. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also revised its production forecast to 8.0 MMT  in April from 6.6 MMT last month. However, Mandi arrival is getting down from last week on lower prices and also, Nafed slowed buying on MSP.

 Veg Oils: India’s vegetable oil imports rose over 26% on year to 1.45 mln ton in March with the highest jump in RBD import to 313K MT since May 2012-2013. Port prices are increasing to monthly level as following the gains from high prices from origins, despite vegoils stocks expected to increase in the country on higher imports in March’19. Soy oil import was 292K MT vs 220K MT last month and Sunflower import 297.8K MT vs 200K MT in last month.

 

Softs

Sugar: Prices were almost steady in most markets. STAI  has suggested that the government should set the minimum support price (MSP) for the sweetener to Rs 3,600 per quintal from Rs 3,100 per quintal to help millers overcome the financial crisis.

Coriander: Prices rose due to higher domestic and export demand. Combination of low supply this year and export demand from countries like Malaysia as well as Saudi Arabia may keep the price trend elevated.

Vegetable: The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) has begun procurement of onions from Lasalgaon, Nafed is to procure some 50,000 tonne onions, which includes 45,000 tonne from Maharashtra and 5,000 tonne from Gujarat. This is expected to be Nafed’s largest procurement from Maharashtra. The procurement is being made under the Centre’s Price Stability Fund (PSF) to keep prices stable and tackle scarcity of onions at a later stage.