Australia ships 14,500t chickpeas, 128,043t lentils in July

Australia exported 14,500 tonnes of chickpeas and 128,043t of lentils in July, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The chickpea figure is down 63 percent from the 38,816t exported in June, and shows the usual seasonal rundown in the lead-up to new-crop exports expected to start in October.

On lentils, the month-on-month drop was only 5pc, with stocks at much higher levels than chickpeas which allowed several bulk cargoes to load.

The three largest markets for July-shipped chickpeas were India on 9288t, Bangladesh on 1582t and Nepal on 905t.

India on 52,631t was also the biggest market for lentils shipped in July, followed by Bangladesh on 32,058t and Egypt on 14,402t.

Egypt is normally a containerised market for Australian lentils, but the ongoing threat of Houthi attacks on container vessels in the Red Sea has pushed them into bulk cargoes shipped in combination with faba beans.

According to Lachstock Consulting’s latest vessel line-up report issued September 3, only one 20,000t bulk parcel of lentils is booked to sail from Australian ports this month to follow 32,400t already on the water.

The slowdown reflects competition from Canada’s new crop into South Asian markets.

On chickpeas, stocks are very thin following sustained strength in prices brought about by India’s removal in May of its tariff, and export volumes in August and September are expected to be as low or lower than the July figure ahead of new crop.

Table 1: Australian May, June and July 2024 chickpea exports. Source: ABS

Table 2: Australian May, June and July 2024 lentil exports. Source: ABS

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Tags: Bangladesh, Nepal, lentils, Australia, Egypt, export, India, chickpeas, stocks