Export

Australia exports 50,494t chickpeas in February

Liz Wells April 9, 2020

AUSTRALIA shipped 50,494 tonnes of chickpeas in February, down 9 per cent from 55,569t exported in January, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Continuing the pattern of recent months, Bangladesh was Australia’s biggest customer for chickpeas in February, with Pakistan in second place.

However, this is likely to change as Bangladesh switches its near-term demand to its neighbour, Myanmar, and Pakistani demand prevails.

Pakistan is currently harvesting its own chickpea crop, but sources report food-security concerns related to COVID-19 have kept Pakistan in the market for Australian chickpeas.

According to Pulse Australia’s latest Pulse Guidance Notes, India’s rabi crop which includes chickpeas was approaching harvest after a good growing season with a cool finish and no moisture stress.

However, reports of heavy rain and hailstorms in the early harvest window may have reduced yields significantly.

India’s chickpea crop was forecast at 11.2 million tonnes (Mt) prior to any storm-related losses.

Pulse Australia said an Indian chickpea crop in excess of 10Mt normally indicated minimal imports would be needed.

Last month, Pakistan was on the cusp of starting its chickpea harvest forecast to yield 600,000t.

India has released quotas for some pulses like black matpe, which Australia does not produce in volume, and it is showing interest in processing-grade Australian mungbeans.

Logistics issues caused by India’s COVID-19 lockdown may create some short-term demand for imported pulses.

Dec Jan Feb Tonnes
Bangladesh 33814 36799 26380 96993
Canada 1173 939 909 3022
Egypt 250 125 0 375
Fiji 19 0 0 19
Greece 48 0 0 48
India 249 121 0 370
Indonesia 0 0 3 3
Israel 24 0 24 48
Italy 24 24 0 48
Jordan 25 0 0 25
Korea 0 0 24 24
Malaysia 143 49 73 265
Mauritius 74 50 173 297
Nepal 1272 0 0 1272
New Caledonia 0 0 0 0
New Zealand 27 14 25 66
Pakistan 12004 12307 21063 45374
Singapore 48 0 0 48
South Africa 0 0 48 48
Spain 120 48 0 168
Sri Lanka 48 244 326 618
Thailand 12 24 0 36
UAE 4304 3939 1 8244
UK 1446 763 1261 3469
USA 170 22 88 280
Yemen 0 100 96 196
TOTAL 55296 55569 50494 161358

Table 1: Australian chickpea exports for December 2018 and January and February 2020. Source: ABS

 

 

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