Harvesting chickpeas in December in the Geraldton zone of Western Australia. Photo: Amery Drage
AUSTRALIA exported tonnes of 113,252 tonnes of chickpeas and 101,147t of lentils in December, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Both figures exceed the tonnage shipped in October and November put together, and the December chickpea figure is up per cent from the 58,604t shipped in December 2019, when drought had severely reduced Australia’s export surplus.
In December 2020, Bangladesh on 47,997t, Pakistan on 39,517t and Nepal on 11,330t were the biggest markets for chickpeas.
In the lentil market, India on 42,154t, Bangladesh on 15,256t and Sri Lanka on 14,970t were the major destinations.
Pakistan and Nepal are container-only markets, and prove that while logistics issues domestically and globally abound, the boxed trade has still managed to lift significant tonnage.
| CHICKPEAS | Jly | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Tonnes |
| Bangladesh | 413 | 6061 | 10873 | 15015 | 18754 | 47997 | 99113 |
| Belgium | 0 | 116 | 20 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 256 |
| Canada | 521 | 597 | 547 | 671 | 371 | 255 | 2961 |
| Egypt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 110 |
| Fiji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 19 |
| France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 48 |
| Germany | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 | 48 |
| India | 0 | 0 | 1243 | 3551 | 1822 | 177 | 6793 |
| Israel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 24 | 72 |
| Italy | 0 | 48 | 48 | 24 | 166 | 166 | 452 |
| Japan | 35 | 60 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 120 |
| Jordan | 0 | 120 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
| Lebanon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Malaysia | 24 | 98 | 72 | 72 | 193 | 120 | 580 |
| Mauritius | 0 | 0 | 50 | 167 | 120 | 120 | 457 |
| Nepal | 722 | 1277 | 2530 | 5941 | 7192 | 11330 | 28992 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 48 |
| New Zealand | 24 | 25 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 38 | 135 |
| Oman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 48 |
| Pakistan | 3224 | 9172 | 5049 | 8245 | 24307 | 39517 | 89515 |
| Qatar | 0 | 0 | 72 | 120 | 168 | 289 | 649 |
| Romania | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 | 72 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 383 | 347 | 730 |
| Singapore | 0 | 48 | 96 | 48 | 24 | 98 | 314 |
| South Africa | 24 | 0 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 47 | 119 |
| South Korea | 24 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 72 |
| Spain | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Sri Lanka | 123 | 146 | 215 | 317 | 345 | 25 | 1171 |
| Thailand | 23 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 50 | 23 | 134 |
| Turkey | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| UAE | 572 | 595 | 3295 | 4331 | 5800 | 10194 | 24787 |
| UK | 865 | 1223 | 1130 | 1664 | 1926 | 2005 | 8813 |
| USA | 110 | 83 | 62 | 124 | 332 | 186 | 895 |
| Yemen | 0 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 142 |
| TOTAL | 6727 | 19812 | 25375 | 40530 | 62184 | 113252 | 267881 |
Table 1: Australian monthly chickpea exports for July to December 2020. Source: ABS
| LENTILS | Jly | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Tonnes |
| Bangladesh | 11651 | 8633 | 5370 | 9756 | 8511 | 15256 | 59178 |
| Egypt | 752 | 997 | 146 | 396 | 5555 | 3814 | 11660 |
| India | 32677 | 2567 | 7265 | 3769 | 5905 | 42154 | 94339 |
| Indonesia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| Jordan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| Lebanon | 0 | 50 | 0 | 23 | 48 | 0 | 121 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 150 |
| Mauritius | 95 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 145 |
| Nepal | 2274 | 3216 | 4981 | 2582 | 1768 | 6672 | 21492 |
| New Zealand | 14 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 49 |
| Pakistan | 0 | 1985 | 2812 | 8884 | 1781 | 7499 | 22960 |
| Romania | 24 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Singapore | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| South Africa | 119 | 50 | 24 | 0 | 73 | 150 | 416 |
| South Korea | 46 | 23 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 187 |
| Sri Lanka | 6131 | 5361 | 5103 | 10404 | 9523 | 14970 | 51492 |
| Thailand | 0 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Turkey | 259 | 252 | 0 | 0 | 503 | 6458 | 7472 |
| UAE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1257 | 3895 | 5152 |
| Vietnam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yemen | 0 | 0 | 125 | 48 | 24 | 0 | 197 |
| TOTAL | 54042 | 23263 | 25910 | 35876 | 34974 | 101147 | 275213 |
Table 2: Australian monthly lentil exports for July to December 2020. Source: ABS
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