Strong Demand Drives Up Green Lentil Prices in Canada

Regina. Lentil prices in Western Canadian markets remained stable or trended higher last week. While red lentil prices held firm at previous levels, green lentil prices saw an increase. Although the harvest has concluded across the three major producing provinces—Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba—farmers had delivered only 12 percent of the total production between August 1 and October 25.

For some time now, prices for large green lentils in Canada have remained high and firm, a trend that continued last week. This points to two key factors: domestic transportation costs in Canada have risen significantly, and producers are showing little urgency to sell their existing stocks.

In the first quarter of the current marketing season, the volume of lentil trade has not even reached 15 percent, despite the availability of substantial stocks. By comparison, 17 percent of the lentil crop had been traded during the same period last year. The volume has fallen from 652,500 tonnes last year to 416,900 tonnes this year.