Export

Australian chickpea exports at 27,288t down 37pc over May

Liz Wells July 11, 2019

EXPORTS of Australian chickpeas in May totaled 27,288 tonnes, down 37pc from the April total of 43,134t, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Most new-crop exports of chickpeas are likely to come from Central Queensland crops like this.

The drop reflects reduced tonnage shipped to Bangladesh, currently Australia’s biggest chickpea market in the continued absence of India, which is working its way through ample domestic old-crop and current-crop supplies.

Combined with some smaller markets, the demand from Bangladesh has been enough to support prices for Australian chickpeas at historically high levels of $650 per tonne or more in recent months.

Production prospects for Australia’s new-crop chickpeas are bright in Central Queensland, where the crop has been planted on time and into good subsoil moisture.

Chickpea area in northwest New South Wales and southern Queensland has been limited by very dry conditions, and with no rain on the forecast for the coming week, the planting window for Australia’s 2019 has all but closed.

This will limit the potential for bulk new-crop exports out of Brisbane and Newcastle, but shipments out of Central Queensland ports are likely, as are containerised shipments from all ports.

Destination March April May Tonnes
Argentina 0 0 22 22
Bangladesh 17087 28226 8376 53689
Canada 902 538 924 2364
Egypt 125 0 0 125
Fiji 0 19 20 39
India 0 247 360 607
Italy 0 0 48 48
Japan 0 0 20 20
Malaysia 311 145 71 527
Mauritius 147 171 74 392
Nepal 120 1452 3288 4860
New Zealand 36 0 0 36
Pakistan 1526 2192 3603 7321
Singapore 24 52 1 77
South Africa 24 0 0 24
Sri Lanka 25 223 0 248
Taiwan 0 0 125 125
Thailand 6 14 39 59
United Arab Emirates 1934 8183 9079 19196
United Kingdom 658 1509 1158 3326
USA 165 153 80 398
TOTAL 23089 43124 27288 93501

Table 1: ABS data for Australia’s March, April and May 2019 chickpea exports.

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