Australia has exported 1.93Mt of chickpeas, including 1.4Mt to India, in the first half of the 2024-25 shipping year ending March 31. Photo: GrainCorp

AUSTRALIA exported 73,783 tonnes of chickpeas and 131,447t of lentils in March, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The chickpea figure is down 75 percent from the 294,333t exported in February to reflect the March 31 end of the tariff-free period into India.

It captured 1.4 million tonnes (Mt) of chickpeas to India in the first half of the shipping year, with December on 528,238t the biggest month, and March on 34,110t the smallest.

Pakistan on 30,750t was the second-biggest market for March-shipped Australian chickpeas, followed by the United Arab Emirates on 4217t.

Lentil exports for March were down 11pc from February, with the UAE on 36,584t the major market.

After being the biggest market for Australian lentils each month from December to February, India on 27,200t moved to being the second-biggest destination for March-shipped lentils.

Pakistan on 23,504t and Bangladesh on 22,699t were the third and fourth-biggest destinations respectively for March-shipped lentils, followed by Sri Lanka on 18,223t.

ABS figures indicate around 85pc, or 1.93Mt, of Australia’s record 2024-25 chickpea crop seen by ABARES at 2.27Mt was exported in the front half of the shipping year as shippers pulled out all stops to get cargoes to India before its tariff was reinstated.

With lentil demand spread across a wider customer base, Oct-Mar shipments to all destinations at a total 771,292t have left plenty for coming months, and indicate two thirds of the 2024-25 crop seen by ABARES at 1.16Mt was shipped in the first half.

Table 1: Australia’s chickpea exports for March, April and May 2025. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australia’s lentil exports for March, April and May 2025. Source: ABS

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