Beans And Pulses Prices Slip On Reduced India Demand: traders .

PRICES of two major beans and pulses varieties have fallen quickly since mid-April, a Myanmar Beans, Pulses and Sesame Merchants Association official said last week.

U Min Ko Oo, the association’s secretary, said matpe and toor prices, also known as black gram and pigeon pea respectively, had fallen by about K100,000 a tonne in local markets following a dip in demand from India, which typically buys about 80 percent of Myanmar’s beans and pulses exports.

“Prices were quite high in April because traders had stockpiled the crop in the hope that prices would skyrocket later, which happens sometimes. But that did not happen this year and those speculators have since begun trying to sell their stockpiles, which has pushed prices downward quickly because supply is much greater than demand.

“People are waiting to see if prices will continue falling,” he said.

The Times of India newspaper reported on April 23 that farmers there recorded a large toor harvest this year but unseasonal rains greatly reduced the quality of the crop, resulting in a price crash of about 40pc.

At Bayintnaung Market, 1 tonne of matpe sold for more than K720,000 in early April but had fallen to K625,000 in early May, an official at the centre said last week.

He added that exports to India, the largest buyer of Myanmar’s beans and pulses, would continue because that country normally bought as much as 600,000 tonnes a year, much of which comes from Myanmar.

One tonne of matpe fixed-on-board (FOB) of fair-to-average-quality (FAQ) was selling last week for US$820, down from a high of $920 in early April, he said.

He added that between 50 and 100 containers (each weighting about 24 tonnes) of beans and pulses were being sold from the market a day.

“Toor was selling for about K525,000 a tonne last week, down from K650,000 in early April, while the FOB price for FAQ had fallen from $800 to $710 in the same time. Green mung bean prices had dropped by about 20 percent too, down from K110,000 for 60 viss [1 viss is 1.6 kilograms or 3.6 pounds] to K81,000. Much of the green mung bean crop is exported to China via the Muse border trading point in Shan State,” said beans and pulses exporter U Tin Myint.

Source : mmtimes.com