Kitchen staples weigh on weather and disease
Price of sugar, milk, Jeera And dhaniya all rose last week, while prices of pulses like tur, urad and chana remained firm at high levels even after the Center introduced price controls, they said. .
Sugar prices increased by 4.5% in one week in Kolhapur, the sugar bowl of Maharashtra, rising from Rs 33 per kilogram to Rs 34.5/kg ex mill. “The seasonal increase in demand coupled with falling production figures is the reason for the increase in sugar prices,” said Abhijit Ghorpade, a sugar trader from Maharashtra.
Prices of pulses like tur, urad and chana have held up as domestic production lags consumption, trade insiders said. The prices of imported urad and tur increased by 5.4% and 3.7% respectively in 15 days.
India fills the gap between demand and supply through imports. The tur is mainly imported from Africa and Myanmar, while the urad is imported from Myanmar.
Chana prices had also increased by 3.8% over the same period.
This prompted the central government to make efforts to control the hoarding of pulses by requiring traders, importers and millers to declare their stock. However, market sources told ET that this has not helped boost pulse arrivals. condition of anonymity. “However, the price drop is only on paper as no one is ready to sell at this level,” the person said.
Industry veterans do not expect much respite for pulse prices as the import of African meal, the next crop available on the international market, will not arrive until July, while prices for urad are farms originally in Myanmar.
India is also facing a severe shortage of milk and dairy products due to declining local production caused by lumpy skin disease in cattle and increased exports of milk powder and milk fat. in the past, industry insiders said.
Milk prices have increased by 15-17% over the past 15 months, while there is a large stockpiling of dairy fats like butter and ghee.
