ICRA says sugar import at 25% duty may not pull-down prices.
Ram Gopal Yadav (8 years ago)

The government decision to allow import of 300,000 tonne of sugar at a concessional duty of 25% is unlikely to have any significant negative impact on prices of the sweetener in the near term, as the quantum of import permitted is very small. Including the 300,000 tonne of imported sugar, the closing stocks for current season are estimated to be around 4.7 million tonne, which would just be sufficient to meet the requirement of around two months of domestic consumption. The expected carryover stock for 2017-18 was lower than the normative stock level of three months–around 6 million tonne–and last year’s closing stock of 7.8 million tonne. The move to allow imports might also benefit the sugar mills based in west and south India, which are currently under profitability pressure due to low availability of cane.

India Sugar prices fall more in north on weak demand.
Ram Gopal Yadav (8 years ago)

Prices of sugar continued to fall in the key wholesale markets of north India due to sluggish demand from bulk buyers. Most importantly, there is no demand. Also, production of sugar in Uttar Pradesh is expected to be higher next year. Sugar output in Uttar Pradesh is likely to rise to a record 10.3 million tonne in the next season starting October from 8.8 million tonne year ago. In the key wholesale markets of Maharashtra, sugar prices were largely unchanged amid lacklustre trade.

Canada Manitoba bean crops nearing maturity.
Ram Gopal Yadav (8 years ago)

Canada exported 101,300 tonnes of peas during the week ended September 3. Dry bean crops in Manitoba are at, or nearing, maturity in most cases. Early harvest operations are underway in the Pembina Valley, with yields of 1,800 to 2,500 pounds per acre reported for pinto beans and 2,000 pounds per acre for cranberry beans.

Centre allows import of additional 44,000 tonnes of tur dal.
Ram Gopal Yadav (8 years ago)

Following the imposition of annual import ceiling on pigeon peas (tur dal) fixed at two lakh tonne last month in response to the glut in the domestic market, the Centre has allowed an additional 40,000-44,000 tonne of the pulse to be imported. This has been done to accommodate the orders already paid for by traders prior to the restriction. It was brought to the notice of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade that some traders had already given advance to foreign suppliers before the import ceiling was imposed. Since they can’t get their money back they are being allowed to import the contracted amount. When the government imposed the import restriction of an annual 2 lakh tonne on tur dal, the import limit had almost been reached. So the additional amount that is coming to the market is just restricted to the 44,000 tonne of pigeon peas that was contracted before the restriction was imposed.

Sebi considering lifting a decade-old ban on futures trading of tur and urad.
Ram Gopal Yadav (8 years ago)

With fears of inflationary pressure in pulses having been abated due to a bumper harvest in 2016-17 and the government inventory brimming with around two million tonne of pulses stocks, the regulator is weighing the possibility of lifting the ban. The review of the ban has started but a final decision on allowing such futures could be taken after factoring in production estimates as areas under pulses are down by almost 4% from a year earlier. Prices of tur started plunging late last year as farmers, encouraged by record prices in 2015-16, stepped up sowing of the key pulse variety, leading to an all-time-high production level of 4.78 million tonne in 2016-17. This was 87% higher than the production in the previous year and far exceeded the target of 3.62 million tonne for 2016-17.

European vegetable oils were firm.
Ram Gopal Yadav (8 years ago)

European vegetable oils were firm, supported by a strong rise in Malaysia, but activity remained thin with some buyers seeing the recent rise as overdone. Malaysian palm oil futures jumped to their highest level since March, driven by a fall in production and higher exports that kept inventory numbers lower than expected.