A crop of PBA Drummond chickpeas at Tottenham in central NSW. Photo: Stuart Ockerby, Seednet

AUSTRALIA exported 27,310 tonnes of chickpeas and 32,707t of lentils in September, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Both figures are up from the August tonnages, and represent a 38-per-cent increase on chickpeas and a 41pc rise for lentils.

The surge in chickpea exports reflects availability of the first trickle of Australia’s new-crop chickpeas from Central Queensland, and the last parcels of old crop.

Nearly all chickpeas shipped in September went out of Brisbane in containers, with Bangladesh on 11,243t followed by Pakistan on 5971t and the United Arab Emirates with 3592t the biggest markets for the month (table 1).

On lentils, India on 8654t, Sri Lanka on 7005t and Bangladesh on 6246t were the biggest customers in September (table 2).

India’s tariff on lentils from major suppliers including Australia and Canada dropped from 30 per cent to 10pc from early June to 31 August, and again from mid September to 31 October.

Last last month, India announced the reduced tariff would remain until 31 December.

Table 1: Chickpea exports.

Table 2: Lentil exports.