Australian chickpea, lentil exports drop in June

Australia exported 25,892 tonnes of chickpeas and 74,856t of lentils, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Both figures are down on the May figure, chickpeas by 16 per cent and lentils by 18pc.

The biggest market for June-shipped chickpeas was Pakistan on 10,349t followed by Nepal on 3323t and Bangladesh on 2420t.

On lentils, the United Arab Emirates on 27,500t followed by Egypt on 21,639t and Pakistan on 9571t were the biggest markets.

Increased volume to Pakistan, more than double the May volume on chickpeas, and a nine-fold increase on lentils, indicates improving terms of trade for container business.

As expected by the trade now that Canada is once again a volume exporter following last year’s drought-reduced offering, Australian lentil exports to India plummeted in June.

The ABS June figure of 2141t is down 93pc from the 32,165t shipped to India in May.

On July 23, the Indian Government announced it would extend the zero tariff allowance on Australian lentils until March 31 next year.

“This is likely to have been driven by the rising wholesale price of both lentils and pigeon pea in India, which are currently both trading well above Minimum Support Prices,” Pulse Australia CEO Nick Goddard said in a statement to members last month.

The extension is unlikely to make Australian lentils competitive with Canadian product, also subject to zero tariff, in coming months at least.

Table 1: Australian chickpea exports from October 2021 to June 2022. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian lentil exports from October 2021 to June 2022. Source: ABS

Tags: pigeon pea, Australia, export, lentils, Pakistan, chickpeas, Bangladesh, Непал, markets