Irrigated chickpeas at Emerald in central Queensland. Photo: Renee Anderson
AUSTRALIA exported 13,525 tonnes of chickpeas in April, down 19 per cent from 16,699t shipped in March, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The United Arab Emirates on 4125t was the biggest-volume customer, followed by Pakistan on 1960t and Bangladesh on 1612t.
Most containers shipped in April are believed to have been booked in March, when the Australian dollar dived, and shipments are expected to dwindle until new-crop rolls into the export pipeline in October.
| CHICKPEAS | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Total |
| Bangladesh | 36799 | 26278 | 6232 | 1612 | 70921 |
| Canada | 939 | 909 | 446 | 616 | 2910 |
| Egypt | 125 | 0 | 0 | 175 | 300 |
| Fiji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 37 |
| Greece | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| India | 121 | 0 | 161 | 616 | 898 |
| Indonesia | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Israel | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Italy | 49 | 0 | 0 | 144 | 193 |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 24 | 71 | 95 |
| Jordan | 0 | 0 | 100 | 0 | 100 |
| Malaysia | 50 | 73 | 168 | 97 | 388 |
| Mauritius | 14 | 173 | 197 | 25 | 409 |
| Nepal | 0 | 0 | 241 | 1536 | 1777 |
| New Zealand | 12307 | 25 | 26 | 137 | 12495 |
| Oman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 191 | 191 |
| Pakistan | 48 | 19638 | 3844 | 1960 | 25489 |
| Qatar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Romania | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Singapore | 0 | 0 | 75 | 75 | 150 |
| Spain | 244 | 0 | 167 | 0 | 411 |
| South Africa | 0 | 48 | 0 | 48 | 96 |
| South Korea | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Sri Lanka | 24 | 326 | 248 | 555 | 1152 |
| Thailand | 3939 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3963 |
| UAE | 763 | 927 | 3563 | 4125 | 9378 |
| UK | 22 | 1261 | 927 | 1019 | 3229 |
| USA | 100 | 88 | 160 | 367 | 715 |
| Yemen | 100 | 96 | 96 | 48 | 340 |
| TONNES | 55669 | 49892 | 16699 | 13525 | 135785 |
Table 1: Australian chickpea export figures for January to April 2020. Source: ABS
Prospects for desi chickpea production in Australia are looking their brightest since 2016-17, thanks to soaking rain which fell in New South Wales and Queensland which has allowed most growers to plant all of their intended area to chickpeas.
This means bulk and containerised exports out of NSW and Queensland ports are likely to start late this year, with Bangladesh expected to be the volume buyer.
Chickpea area
| State | 2018-19 ha | 2018-19 tns | 2019-20 ha | 2019-20 tns | 2020-21 ha |
2020-21 tns |
| Qld | 165,000 | 118,000 | 170,000 | 170,000 | 250,000 | 300,000 |
| NSW | 59,000 | 22,000 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 220,000 | 275,000 |
| Victoria | 33,000 | 24,000 | 50,000 | 75,000 | 45,000 | 68,000 |
| SA | 26,000 | 27,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 8,000 | 9,000 |
| WA | 11,000 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 |
| TOTAL | 294,000 | 205,000 | 263,000 | 281,000 | 531,000 | 662,000 |
Table 2: Chickpea area and tonnage for old crop, current crop and new crop. Nearly all of Australia’s desi chickpeas, which form the vast majority of Australian chickpea exports, are grown in Queensland and NSW. Kabuli chickpeas feature in other states. Source: ABARES
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