Markets

Australia’s April chickpea exports tumble, lentils dip

Liz Wells June 12, 2023

Lentil crops are off on a strong start in most districts of southern Australia. Photo: Agrocorp Processing Australia

AUSTRALIA exported 19,500 tonnes of chickpeas and 159,734t of lentils in April, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The chickpea figure is down 62 percent from the 51,953t shipped in April, and once again has Pakistan as the biggest-volume customer.

Behind Pakistan on 9024t, the United Arab Emirates on 3583t and Nepal on 2423t were the biggest markets for April-shipped chickpeas.

On lentils, April exports were down 2pc from the March total of 162,567t, but include a record volume to India as the major market.

ABS data indicates Australia exported 104,163t of lentils to India in April, which just manages to break the previous record of 104,052t set in February.

After India, Sri Lanka on 18,472t and the United Arab Emirates on 14,539t were the biggest markets for Australia’s April-shipped lentils.

Indications from shipping stems are that lentil exports for May and June will continue well above the 100,000t mark.

Chickpea exports are expected to continue at the current modest levels as sorghum dominates bulk shipping out of Queensland, and demand remains subdued.

CHICKPEAS Feb Mar Apr Tonnes
Bangladesh 55514 11262 740 67516
Belgium 0 0 132 132
Canada 1226 553 1401 3180
Egypt 0 0 251 251
Fiji 0 0 22 22
Italy 0 48 145 192
Japan 0 0 49 49
Jordan 0 175 0 175
Lebanon 0 50 0 50
Malaysia 363 72 74 509
Mauritius 73 25 25 123
Nepal 1777 1493 2423 5693
Netherlands 24 0 50 74
New Zealand 83 159 111 353
Pakistan 8776 9981 9024 27781
Saudi Arabia 0 0 198 198
Singapore 72 72 74 218
South Africa 48 0 0 48
South Korea 0 48 49 97
Spain 97 72 0 169
Sri Lanka 125 0 0 125
Syria 0 990 0 990
Thailand 4 2 25 31
Turkiye 1259 251 251 1761
UAE 6566 9806 3583 19956
UK 1744 1057 795 3596
US 412 15763 53 16229
Vietnam 48 24 24 96
Yemen 0 50 0 50
TOTAL 78213 51953 19500 149666

Table 1: Australian chickpea exports in February, March and April 2023. Source: ABS

LENTILS Feb Mar Apr Tonnes
Bahrain 500 1018 525 2044
Bangladesh 41724 80530 10999 133253
China 503 0 0 503
Egypt 10390 9724 0 20114
Fiji 0 22 0 22
India 104052 24431 104163 232645
Indonesia 1 0 0 1
Malaysia 97 648 0 744
Mauritius 174 75 0 249
Nepal 8034 2723 5899 16657
New Zealand 9 48 24 81
Pakistan 933 125 4728 5785
Papua New Guinea 1 2 0 3
Singapore 0 0 48 48
South Africa 24 146 312 482
South Korea 24 24 25 73
Sri Lanka 14822 14197 18472 47490
Turkiye 1386 1750 0 3136
UAE 13526 27104 14539 55170
Zimbabwe 23 0 0 23
TOTAL 196223 162567 159734 518524

Table 2: Australian lentil exports in February, March and April 2023. Source: ABS

 

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