PRICES for chickpeas are rallying, while faba bean and lentil markets are trading sideways now that Australia’s 2025-26 winter pulse harvest is over.

Both the faba bean and lentil crops have set new national production records, with the chickpea crop not far behind.

Chickpeas

In sharp contrast to this time last year, Australia’s program for exporting bulk chickpeas is slow, despite another bumper crop seen by ABARES at 2.12 million tonnes, just below the record 2024-25 crop of 2.27Mt.

The Lachstock Consulting Australian Export Vessel Line-ups report released January 7 indicates the bulk program will wind up this week when it sails for destination carrying 26,000t loaded in Newcastle and 7700t in Brisbane.

However, a recent uptick in grower selling is expected to put some more cargoes on to the stem.

The delivered Brisbane market recently hit $625 per tonne, up $25/t in a week, but below the $640/t quoted in early December.

On the Darling Downs, container packers are paying around $610-$615/t, high enough to stimulate some selling of mostly warehoused chickpeas.

The market appears to be firming as growers in north-west New South Wales look to sell some of their chickpeas stored on farm, and backload from port with urea being procured in readiness for winter-crop planning.

At Narrabri, AgVantage Commodities broker and director Steve Dalton said container packers could not compete with bulk up to last month.

“It seems to be a bit of renewed competition after the slumber of Christmas and New Year,” Mr Dalton said.

“Bulk is still pulling into Brisbane and Newcastle…but mid last week, the container market really started to try and compete.”

He said limited liquidity, a function of low bids on offer, seems to have reignited demand for bulk deliveries to port.

“We’re seeing strong competition from bulk and strong competition from containers.”

Nearby demand for urea has chopped around 12 percent from road freight rates on a port delivery with backload.

“We’re doing quite a lot of business on that basis.

“Growers are picking up on higher chickpea prices and lower freight.

“That’s culminated in a far better return for the farmer.”

Given solid prospects for India’s rabi crop to be harvested March-April, Australia’s biggest 2024-25 market, now with a 10pc tariff in place, looks unlikely to return for considerable volume.

However, India is nonetheless generating some modest demand, as is Pakistan, and Bangladesh can be expected to return after Ramadan next month.

“I form the view that growers should be selling.

“There’s still a lot of unsold chickpeas out there.”

While Central and southern Queensland are seen as largely sold out of their 2025-26 chickpeas, considerable stocks remain in the hands of some growers in northern NSW.

“They don’t want to look at anything until it has a six in front of it on an on-farm basis.”

Faba beans

In the northern market, faba beans are bid around $420-$425/t from feedmills in Greater Brisbane, and for export, while farmers are selling “over the fence” at around $380-$400/t ex farm.

Those values are steady on the early December market, as is the southern market at around $440/t delivered port and $400/t into Wimmera packers.

The 2025-26 national faba bean crop is seen by ABARES at 930,000t to break last season’s record of 750,000t, despite the drought-affected 2024-25 South Australian season.

Export activity is concentrated in Victoria, with 35,000t due to load for Egypt by early February.

In his latest summary of the faba bean market, GrainSource trader Simon Hutt has suggested growers sell to capture export and domestic demand before the reality of large unsold stocks weighs on values.

“The opening months of the season have delivered a period of strong demand for Australian faba beans across both domestic and export channels,” Mr Hutt said in his report.

“However, much of this demand appears front-loaded rather than structural.

“Domestic consumers and export buyers have moved early to cover near-term requirements, responding to harvest availability, price signals, and execution obligations.”

“As this coverage completes, the market is likely to transition into a phase defined by large unsold faba bean volumes needing to be placed into a reducing demand environment.”

If prices fall, demand from sectors including poultry can be expected to pick up if faba beans can knock some soymeal out of rations.

Also, mixed farmers seem happy to hold faba beans to feed to their own livestock, or sell to to others if the autumn break is late to arrive.

Lentils

Bulk lentils delivered port are trading at around $640/t, unchanged from early December.

The past six weeks have seen the market kick up to $650/t on short positions, and lulls in demand have seen bids drop to $620/t.

Liquidity is limited, with the late harvest creating a late holiday week or two for farming families.

Recent bushfires in Victoria have also occupied farmers who are also volunteer firefighters, another reason for them to have little to no interest in cash selling this week.

“Here in Vic, it’s very slow,” ETG Horsham-based pulse trader Todd Krahe said of the lentil trade.

However, greater liquidity is being seen across the border as traders look to fill hatches booked to sail soon.

“We’ve seen this week and late last week that SA has picked up in terms of growing engagement.”

ABARES has called the current lentil crop 1.91Mt, well ahead of the previous record set in 2021-22 of 1.69Mt.

Several cargoes are booked to load in Vic and SA this and next month, and Western Australia too has potential to load its first ever bulk hatches in the near-term.

Mr Krahe said offers on Canadian lentils are about on par with those from Australia.

“We’re not seeing any strong signals in any direction,” he said of prices.

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