Chickpea quotes held their late-October rise while farmers delivered more than in this week of any recent year, and elevator stocks did not build.

The 28 October rise in Saskatchewan's chickpea quotes, reported last week, held through the 4 November quotes. Desi stands at C$602.52 a tonne and 9 mm kabuli at C$660.28. Desi is well above last year at this point, while kabuli is still slightly below it. These provincial quotes are the only chickpea price measure on the page.Charts: Exhibit 7, Exhibit 8

What is new this week is in the flows. Farmers delivered 3,900 tonnes to licensed country elevators, a second week above every one of the past five years, and almost 1,000 tonnes more went straight to processors. Elevators shipped out 2,400 tonnes, down from 4,000 the week before but still about twice the usual amount for this week. Country elevator stocks barely changed. They are about a fifth above average in tonnes but cover fewer weeks of shipments than usual. Licensed elevators handle only a small part of chickpea trade, so these flows show direction more than volume.Charts: Exhibit 2, Exhibit 4

So this week buyers took the heaviest farm deliveries for this week in six years at the higher price without grain piling up at elevators. No market report in the week explained the price, so the exhibits show what happened, not why.Charts: Exhibit 8, Exhibit 2

The supply behind this is large. Production is estimated at about 72 per cent above the five-year average, and stocks at the start of the crop year were nearly twice the average, most of them on farms. The point to watch is the elevators. Shipments eased this week. If they keep easing while deliveries stay this high, elevator stocks would start to build, which would be the first sign that the supply is outrunning buyers at this price.Charts: Exhibit 10, Exhibit 11, Exhibit 2