Pulses body sees India FY19 pulses imports halving to 2.5-3.0 mln tn.

India’s pulses imports are likely to nearly halve to 2.5-3.0 mln tn in the financial year starting April due to ample stocks in the country and uncertainty over the government’s policy. In Apr-Dec, 5 mln tn of pulses had been imported. By the end of March, the figure should be 5.5-5.7 mln tn. Concerns that the government may take more steps to limit imports of pulses are also expected to keep imports lower. Traders would not look at tur imports either, as the government is sitting on large stocks.

Kenya urges Indian govt to buy at least 50,000 tn pulses.

The Kenyan government has asked India to buy at least 50,000 tn pulses as the country increased production after Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year promised huge purchases of the commodity from East Africa. In 2017-18, total pulses output in Kenya is estimated at 200,000 tn, up from about 100,000 tn produced last year.

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra assess effect of hailstorm on standing crop

A hailstorm and unseasonal rains lashed several parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. the hailstorm hit almost 400 villages and could affect the standing wheat, chana and mustard crop. The state government is assessing the impact of the hailstorm, which many said was among the severest in the last few years. Large tracts of farmland were covered with a thick sheet of white after the storm while in some places hail as big as golf balls fell.

Edible oil import bill likely to surge as soybean output may decline by 24%

In wake of unsatisfactory oilseed production this year, India’s yearly edible oil import bill is estimated to reach around Rs 650 billion fuelled by import of 15 million tonnes of cooking oil. Due to lower production of soybean in India, major exporters such as Argentina, the United States and Brazil will increase their sales of animal feed Asian purchasers namely Bangladesh, Vietnam and Japan. Indian oilseed crushers compete with Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Argentina, reducing demand for local rapeseed and soybeans.

US exporters cancel China soybean sales amid talk of trade tension

Private exporters announced the cancellation of close to half a million mt of soybean export volumes to China. However, the news failed to dent the upward momentum seen on soybean futures contracts, which received fresh impetus over the weekend on a lack of rain in Argentina. A total of 455,000 mt of soybean exports were cancelled. Although much of the volume was offset by export sales of 314,000 mt of soybeans to unknown destinations.

Kazakhstan bet on barley at the right time

The Statistics Committee of the Ministry expanded the barley acreage in Kazakhstan to a much greater degree than expected, while wheat plantings, on the contrary, ended up below the forecast. So, Kazakh farmers expanded barley plantings for the 2017 harvest by 9.4% against 2016, to 2.08 Ml ha. In addition, net grain yields turned out to be above expectations owing to a lower impurity content in the grain: it equaled 6.7% in 2017 against 8.8% in 2016. Thus, the Kazakh barley crop reached a record 3.3 MMT in 2017. Noteworthy is that Kazakhstan has bet on barley and it could not have done this at a better time, as barley export prices hit new highs this season. In view of the price upturn and surging production of Kazakh barley, its exports set new records. Kazakhstan within the first four months in MY 2017/18 than exported 56% more a year ago.

Coriander down in Kota on low demand for new crop

Prices of coriander fell in Kota, the benchmark market, because of higher arrivals and weak demand for the new crop as it contains high moisture. Moisture content currently in the new crop is quite high than the desired level of 78%.