Markets

Australia March exports lift for chickpeas, lentils drop

Liz Wells, May 17, 2021

Australian chickpeas are mostly exported in containers out of Brisbane and Sydney. Pictured is Sydney’s Port Botany. Photo: NSW Ports

AUSTRALIA exported 85,426 tonnes of chickpeas and 97,840t of lentils in March, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

On chickpeas, the March total is up 3 per cent from 83,197t shipped in February, while the lentil total represents a drop of 15pc from 114,650t over the month.

As was the case in February, Pakistan was the biggest market for chickpeas, followed by Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

In the lentil market Bangladesh, followed by Sri Lanka and Egypt, was the biggest-volume market in March.

Container freight rates remain high, and availability of empty boxes remains limited.

However, all chickpeas exported in March appear to have been shipped in containers, while in lentils, around two thirds of the export tonnage went in containers, and supplemented bulk tonnage ex South Australia.

CHICKPEAS Jan Feb Mar Tonnes
Bangladesh 133529 31577 11577 176683
Belgium 72 0 119 191
Canada 254 491 852 1597
Egypt 99 0 230 329
Fiji 0 24 24 48
Greece 0 24 24 48
India 243 0 0 243
Indonesia 0 0 0 0
Israel 0 0 24 24
Italy 48 96 72 216
Japan 0 0 80 80
Jordan 96 0 0 96
Kuwait 96 0 43 139
Lebanon 0 24 0 24
Malaysia 189 338 384 911
Mauritius 169 337 336 842
Nepal 3862 4090 2499 10451
New Zealand 27 48 49 124
Pakistan 29778 37906 58909 126593
Papua New Guinea 0 0 0 0
Qatar 71 120 120 311
Romania 0 48 24 72
Saudi Arabia 416 988 752 2156
Singapore 144 72 122 338
South Africa 168 96 290 554
South Korea 0 24 70 94
Spain 0 0 48 48
Sri Lanka 365 123 515 1004
Thailand 27 2 5 35
Turkey 246 0 0 246
UAE 7360 4219 6424 18002
UK 1611 2550 1474 5635
US 146 0 311 456
Vietnam 0 0 0 0
Yemen 92 0 48 140
TOTAL 179108 83197 85426 347731

Table 1: Australian chickpea exports in January, February and March 2021. Source: ABS

LENTILS Jan Feb Mar Tonnes
Bangladesh 32247 56073 50228 138549
Belgium 101 0 0 101
Egypt 31281 8782 12291 52355
India 2255 0 728 2983
Indonesia 1 0 1 1
Japan 0 0 31 31
Lebanon 48 0 0 48
Malaysia 172 196 44 412
Mauritius 24 118 69 211
Nepal 2810 2633 1298 6741
New Caledonia 0 0 0 0
New Zealand 37 0 46 84
Pakistan 7817 10143 12033 29993
Papua New Guinea 0 0 0 0
South Africa 0 200 125 325
South Korea 0 0 72 72
Sri Lanka 10975 11885 15748 38608
Sweden 12 0 0 12
Turkey 2763 22092 0 24855
UAE 5652 2528 5125 13305
TOTAL 96196 114650 97840 308686

Table 2: Australian lentil exports in January, February and March 2021. Source: ABS

 

HAVE YOUR SAY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will not appear until it has been moderated.
Contributions that contravene our Comments Policy will not be published.

Comments

Get Grain Central's news headlines emailed to you -
FREE!