MarketsFarm — There’s something of a disconnect in green lentil prices, between what Canadian farmers have seen recently and to where those pulses are being sold, according to Toronto-based Marcos Mosnaim of Export Packers.
Green lentils increased in price up until a couple of weeks ago, Mosnaim said.
“It was a combination of farmers not selling and people trying to cover their short positions,” he said, noting prices have receded, or gains have not been as strong.
“It’s not that there are no sales happening. It’s just the increase in price to the farmers was not correlated to the price to the destination.”
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Most buyers, he said, have not been “jumping up and down to buy more from farmers,” but rather have been focused on fulfilling their shipments while demand cools.
Mosnaim also cited changes in the Canadian dollar. When the loonie fell back that generated more export sales, but as it regained strength it has put pressure on lentil prices.
Of the green lentils, Lairds, regardless of size, climbed seven to nine cents per pound over the last month, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. However, over the course of the last week, they have been steady at 42-53 cents/lb. delivered, depending on size.
It’s a similar story for the Estons, seeing price gains of nine to 12.5 cents/lb. over the month, only to see things hold steady more recently. Estons were listed by Prairie Ag Hotwire at 32-51 cents/lb delivered.
As for Richleas, they have been steady to higher over the past 30 days with No. 1 and 2 grades seeing increases of nine to 10 cents/lb. Presently the Richleas were going for 32 to 52 cents/lb. delivered.
— Glen Hallick reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.
