Laird lentil spot prices jumped five cents per pound at one point last week and pulse prices generally improved on a combination of expectations of reduced supply from Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries and disruptions caused by the cyclone that devastated Myanmar.
As we report this week, large parts of the Middle East have been dry this year. Late rain might yet rescue some crops, but it looks like lentil production in Turkey and Syria will be well down from last year, reducing the supply available for export.
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Contributing to the uncertainty in pulse markets is the situation in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
India usually imports close to 2.5 million tonnes of pulses and approximately 30 percent of that comes from Myanmar. The trade is mostly in beans.
The cyclone that killed tens of thousands last week has become an international issue because the military government there is blocking outside aid shipments. International aid experts said the delay could make the situation much worse, and increase the death toll.
The cyclone damaged the rice growing southern region of the country and that has helped the rice price rally, but also is likely to affect Myanmar’s pulse industry.
Myanmar is one of the world’s largest exporters of pulses, ranked fourth after Canada, China and the United States in 2004.
The Economic Times of India reported traders saying the cyclone damage would likely delay shipments and crops at ports and warehouses might be damaged, but would not immediately increase prices in India because it had recently completed its own harvest and there were good stocks on hand.
