Dried lentils: large price disparity
July 31, 2023 at 4:13 PM ,
Der AUDITOR
Turkish domestic consumption on the rise
In Canada, the red lentil crop was about 1.8 million mt last year. However, as Chelmer Foods reports with reference to Graincentral, production is expected to decline by about a third this year, attributed to a lack of rainfall. For now, the market is holding steady, but experts at Rayglen Commodities report that some buyers have increased their offers. Growers in Alberta and Saskatchewan, in particular, are now able to sell their old crop for up to CAD 0.35/lb FOB farm, up from CAD 0.32/lb a fortnight ago. The new crop is still around CAD 0.33/lb. Interestingly, many Turkish suppliers are currently offering Canadian-origin red lentils at more attractive prices than last year, Chelmer Foods reports. In Turkey itself, the lentil harvest is now complete and is expected to be nearly a third higher than last year, leading to higher domestic consumption. Experts indicate that Turkish lentils are favoured in the domestic market due to their competitive prices and the strong US dollar exchange rate, which reduces the risk of competition from imported lentils.
Green lentils significantly more expensive
In contrast to red lentils, most buyers of old crop green lentils have lowered their offers slightly in recent weeks, however Rayglen states that farmers still have the opportunity to sell their produce for CAD 0.57-0.58/lb FOB farm. The new crop remains unchanged at CAD 0.55/lb FOB farm, small green lentils cost CAD 0.50-0.52/lb FOB; this applies to both old and new crop. Rayglen points out that concerns are already doing the rounds in the market about the large price differential between red and green lentils; this could lead to green lentils falling in price while red lentils become slightly more expensive.
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