Markets

Australia posts solid May chickpea, record lentil exports

Liz Wells July 14, 2023

Loading lentils bound for India at the Port Giles terminal on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula recently. Photo: Viterra

AUSTRALIA exported 68,288 tonnes of chickpeas and a record 264,762t of lentils in May, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The chickpea figure was more than triple April shipments of 17,858t, while lentils were up 74 percent.

Pakistan on 53,802t was the biggest market by far for chickpeas, followed by Nepal on 5618t and the United Arab Emirates on 4573t.

On lentils, India with 109,971t was the largest-volume market, followed by Turkiye on 51,166t and Nepal on 27,818t.

Australian lentils are now starting to face competition from Canada’s crop now getting close to harvest, and volume shipped from Australia is tipped to drop off from this month.

Likewise, chickpea shipments are expected to be modest ahead of new crop becoming available out of Central Queensland in October.

 

CHICKPEAS Mar Apr May Tonnes
Bangladesh 11262 250 706 12218
Belgium 0 132 132 264
Canada 553 1401 742 2696
Egypt 0 251 0 251
Fiji 0 22 0 22
India 0 0 124 124
Italy 48 145 72 264
Japan 0 49 0 49
Jordan 175 0 0 175
Lebanon 50 0 0 50
Malaysia 72 74 324 470
Mauritius 25 25 100 150
Nepal 1493 2186 5618 9296
Netherlands 0 50 0 50
New Zealand 159 111 118 389
Pakistan 9981 8699 53802 72481
Saudi Arabia 0 198 0 198
Singapore 72 74 48 194
South Africa 0 0 96 96
South Korea 48 49 49 146
Spain 72 0 0 72
Syria 990 0 0 990
Thailand 2 25 527 554
Turkiye 251 251 1 503
UAE 9806 3191 4573 17570
UK 1057 699 1121 2876
US 15763 53 63 15879
Vietnam 24 24 73 121
Yemen 50 0 0 50
TOTAL 51953 17959 68288 138200

Table 1: Australian chickpea exports for March, April and May 2023. Source: ABS

LENTILS Mar Apr May Tonnes
Bahrain 1018 0 0 1018
Bangladesh 80530 7750 19077 107358
Egypt 9724 0 27339 37063
Fiji 22 0 0 22
India 24431 101660 109971 236061
Indonesia 0 0 1 1
Lebanon 0 0 50 50
Malaysia 648 0 253 901
Mauritius 75 0 50 125
Nepal 2723 5313 27818 35854
New Zealand 48 24 311 383
Pakistan 125 4732 7095 11952
Papua New Guinea 2 0 0 2
Singapore 0 48 0 48
South Africa 146 312 0 458
South Korea 24 0 48 72
Sri Lanka 14172 17824 21583 53578
Turkiye 1750 0 51166 52916
UAE 27104 14539 0 41644
TOTAL 162542 152201 264762 579505

Table 2: Australian lentil exports for March, April and May 2023. Source: ABS

 

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