Canada is resuming lentil trade with India, according to an Indian commodity broker.
They were cut off over a number of excuses about quality at a time when India’s domestic lentil supplies were relatively high.
“I’ve heard that four or five vessels of lentils have already been traded by the big companies,” said Vivek Agrawal, director of JLV Agro.
The vessels are supposedly booked for shipment in May or June.
G. Chandrashekhar, senior editor of the Hindu Business Line, has heard the same reports that Indian importers have purchased 500,000 tonnes of Canadian lentils in anticipation of a reduction in the country’s import duty on the crop.
Agrawal said there are widespread rumours that the government of India will drop the tariff to 10 percent from 30 percent, likely sometime in mid- to late-May.
He expects the reduction will be for a minimum three-month period but possibly as long as six months.
Farmers are harvesting what the trade anticipates will be a one million tonne winter lentil crop. That would be well below the government target of 1.35 million tonnes.
