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.

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

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

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