AUSTRALIAN chickpea exports in May totalled 19,419 tonnes, up 55 per cent from 12,568t shipped in April, according to the latest export data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The rise reflects increased buying from Bangladesh and Pakistan based on the strength of their own currencies against the US dollar.
Bangladesh was the biggest-volume market for Australian chickpeas in May, followed by the United Arab Emirates which took 4704t, then Pakistan, which took 3465t.
This reverses the downtrend in volume to Pakistan seen since February, and indicates the impact of its domestic crop which, while big in areas, has had huge variation in yield caused by frost, rain and locust damage in many areas.
Trade sources said this has increased demand for Australian chickpeas to blend with domestic product for the dhal market.
Volume to Bangladesh surged last month to 8125t from 1112t in April to reflect an upswing in imports post Ramadan.
| DESTINATION | Mar | Apr | May | Tonnes |
| Bangladesh | 6232 | 1112 | 8125 | 15469 |
| Canada | 446 | 545 | 595 | 1585 |
| Egypt | 0 | 175 | 73 | 248 |
| Fiji | 0 | 37 | 0 | 37 |
| Greece | 0 | 24 | 48 | 72 |
| India | 161 | 616 | 0 | 777 |
| Israel | 0 | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Italy | 0 | 144 | 96 | 240 |
| Japan | 24 | 71 | 15 | 110 |
| Jordan | 100 | 0 | 0 | 100 |
| Malaysia | 168 | 97 | 73 | 338 |
| Mauritius | 197 | 25 | 219 | 441 |
| Nepal | 241 | 1536 | 501 | 2277 |
| New Zealand | 26 | 102 | 82 | 210 |
| Oman | 0 | 191 | 49 | 240 |
| Pakistan | 3844 | 1960 | 3465 | 9269 |
| Romania | 24 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Qatar | 0 | 24 | 24 | 48 |
| Singapore | 75 | 75 | 50 | 200 |
| South Africa | 0 | 48 | 0 | 48 |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 118 | 118 |
| Spain | 167 | 0 | 0 | 167 |
| Sri Lanka | 248 | 423 | 123 | 794 |
| Thailand | 0 | 24 | 47 | 71 |
| UAE | 3563 | 4116 | 4704 | 12383 |
| UK | 927 | 875 | 989 | 2791 |
| USA | 160 | 301 | 0 | 461 |
| Yemen | 96 | 48 | 0 | 144 |
| TOTAL | 16699 | 12568 | 19419 | 48686 |
Table 1: Australian chickpea exports in March, April and May 2020. Source: ABS
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