Lentil exports surged in December 2023 to reflect new-crop availability out of South Australia and Victoria. Photo: dirt9y) inc.
AUSTRALIA exported 94,763 tonnes of chickpeas and 237,345t of lentils in December, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The chickpea figure is close to triple the amount shipped in November to reflect volume exports to Bangladesh, which at 74,574t accounted for 79pc of the monthly total.
Increased shipments to Bangladesh point to a building-up of stocks ahead of Ramadan.
The second and third-largest destinations for December chickpea exports respectively were Nepal on 4352t and the United Arab Emirates on 4010t.
Lentil exports in December were almost double the 119,134t shipped in November to reflect new-crop availability out of South Australian and Victorian ports.
India on 152,407t represented 64pc of Australia’s December lentil exports, with Turkiye on 27,100t and Bangladesh on 22,204t the second and third-largest markets respectively for the month.
| CHICKPEAS | Oct | Nov | Dec | TONNES |
| Bangladesh | 6033 | 6624 | 74574 | 87231 |
| Canada | 1228 | 1775 | 736 | 3738 |
| Egypt | 248 | 0 | 125 | 372 |
| Fiji | 0 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| India | 1031 | 463 | 3117 | 4611 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| Italy | 166 | 165 | 197 | 527 |
| Japan | 0 | 22 | 43 | 65 |
| Lebanon | 0 | 0 | 48 | 48 |
| Malaysia | 162 | 141 | 484 | 787 |
| Mauritius | 198 | 50 | 150 | 398 |
| Nepal | 8022 | 3426 | 4352 | 15799 |
| Netherlands | 0 | 0 | 125 | 125 |
| New Zealand | 195 | 68 | 45 | 308 |
| Pakistan | 41500 | 3483 | 3311 | 48295 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 72 | 48 | 120 |
| Singapore | 165 | 70 | 222 | 457 |
| South Africa | 0 | 11 | 95 | 106 |
| South Korea | 188 | 133 | 49 | 370 |
| Sri Lanka | 504 | 422 | 219 | 1146 |
| Thailand | 382 | 1106 | 0 | 1488 |
| Turkiye | 0 | 0 | 678 | 678 |
| UAE | 19384 | 13175 | 4010 | 36568 |
| UK | 978 | 581 | 1191 | 2750 |
| US | 21 | 908 | 796 | 1725 |
| Yemen | 24 | 0 | 100 | 124 |
| TOTAL | 80426 | 32697 | 94763 | 207886 |
Table 1: Australia’s October, November and December 2023 chickpea exports. Source: ABS
| LENTILS | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Bahrain | 762 | 1106 | 110 | 1978 |
| Bangladesh | 3150 | 645 | 22204 | 25999 |
| Canada | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Egypt | 3252 | 1603 | 2384 | 7238 |
| Fiji | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| India | 59172 | 99156 | 152407 | 310736 |
| Indonesia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Japan | 23 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| Malaysia | 503 | 0 | 101 | 604 |
| Mauritius | 49 | 73 | 24 | 146 |
| Nepal | 4614 | 4160 | 1194 | 9968 |
| New Zealand | 24 | 0 | 12 | 36 |
| Pakistan | 11046 | 4206 | 7581 | 22833 |
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| South Africa | 0 | 0 | 116 | 116 |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Sri Lanka | 13302 | 7429 | 9041 | 29772 |
| Turkiye | 0 | 503 | 27100 | 27603 |
| UAE | 1749 | 250 | 15014 | 17013 |
| UK | 0 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| US | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Yemen | 48 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
| Zimbabwe | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| TOTAL | 97717 | 119134 | 237345 | 454196 |
Table 2: Australia’s October, November and December 2023 lentil exports. Source: ABS
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