Mumbai. Lentil prices continued to decline during the current week. Demand for lentils has remained low, limiting buying by lentil millers. Prices remain under pressure due to the lack of demand and a lack of buying by millers and traders. The number of transactions in wholesale markets has also remained low, leading to a gradual weakening of lentil prices rather than remaining stable. Lentil trading in Western Canada markets is sluggish. Buyers are reluctant to buy due to weak export demand. Although the new crop is almost complete, grade-wise availability remains unclear. Demand for Canadian lentils remains weak in major markets like India, Turkey, and the UAE, while new supplies are arriving in Russia and the United States. Stiff competition from Australia, where lentil production is expected to increase by 34% to 1.7 million tonnes, has also added to the pressure. Due to increased selling pressure from importers and weakening buying, imported lentil prices declined by Rs 75/100 per quintal during the current week, and at the end of the week, the prices were Rs 5850 for Mundra, Rs 5900/5925 for Hazira, Rs 6050 for container Canada and Rs 6100 for Australia. Similarly, Kolkata lentil prices also declined by Rs 50 per quintal this week, and the prices remained at Rs 6100 per quintal for Australia at the end of the week.

Due to subdued demand from stockists and dal millers, the prices of small lentils in Delhi declined by Rs 100 and Desi Badi by Rs 50 per quintal. With this decline, the prices of small quota in Delhi declined by Rs 8250/8300, Bundi by Rs 8550/8600, Uttar Pradesh by Rs 8650/8700 and Desi Badi by Rs 6650/6675 per quintal at the end of the week.

Due to increased selling pressure and slow buying, the prices of lentils in Madhya Pradesh declined by Rs 100/200 per quintal this week and with this decline, the weekend prices remained at Ashoknagar Rs 6000/6050, Bina Rs 6000/6400, Ganjbasoda Rs 6000/6300, Sagar Rs 5800/6200, Damoh Rs 600/6500, Indore Rs 6050, Kareli Rs 5500/6507 and Katni Rs 6600 per quintal.

Due to weak buying, small lentil prices in Uttar Pradesh declined by ₹200 and large lentil prices declined by ₹100 per quintal this week. With this decline, prices at the weekend in Bareilly small lentils declined by ₹8,800, large lentils by ₹6,650, Lalitpur large lentils by ₹5,800/6,000, small lentils by ₹7,800/8,000, and Orai ₹5,500/6,100 per quintal.

Due to the widespread decline and weakening demand, Bihar lentil prices declined by ₹100 per quintal this week, with prices at the weekend falling to ₹7,300 in Barh, ₹7,200 in Khusrupur, and ₹7,300 in Mokama. Similarly, Raipur lentil prices also declined by ₹50 per quintal this week, reaching ₹6,250 per quintal.

Due to sluggish demand, the prices of Masoor Dal declined by Rs 100 per quintal during the current week and with this decline, the weekend prices stood at Rs 7300 in Indore, Rs 8200/8500 in Barh, Rs 8100/8400 in Khusrupur, Rs 8200/8500 in Mokama, Rs 8200/8500 in Chandausi, Rs 8500/9500 and Rs 7800 per quintal in Hyderabad.