``The Iraqi supplies (exports) to India will also be priced lower owing to the glut there,'' said a wholesale merchant.

The new crop of dates from Iraq will start flowing in from Diwali and this in turn will force domestic stockists to offload their old stock who are now reluctant to sell due to current downtrend, traders said.

According to a few traders, the crop arrivals from Iraq are expected to be in time this year. The demand for dates hasn't picked up yet and isn't likely to up in the near future, traders said. The slack in demand will exert a downward pressure on the domestic date prices.

Stockists were expecting the prices to touch Rs 20-22, whereas the prevailing cold storage prices of good quality dates are Rs 18 per kg, medium Rs 15-16 and inferior quality Rs 8-10 per kg.

India meets its domestic requirement entirely through imports, bulk ofwhich comes from Iraq, the largest producer in the world. Moreover, the imports being under open general licence, the supplies are throughout the year.

About 90 per cent of imported dates land at Mumbai port and the balance at Jamnagar in small vessels. Hence Mumbai traders normally buy it in the season, cold-storage them and sell it round the year. But for the last three years stockists do not store them following the low rate of returns and have resrted to selling spot as and when the steamers arrive with new stocks.

The four-per cent sales tax by Mahartashtra state has affected traders' margins and affect sales.

The daily average sales in Mumbai range between 50 and 100 truckloads (8-10 tonnes).

The sales pick up during the one-month old holy month of Muslims, Ramzan and during winter.