Australian farmers have been left reeling, after India confirmed it would impose a 30 per cent import duty on chickpeas and lentils.
Pulse markets have been sliding in recent months amid speculation that India, the world’s largest pulse importing country, was considering an import duty on all chickpea and lentil imports following a bumper local harvest. News of the import tax on chickpeas and lentils comes on the back of a 50pc import tax on field peas as well as a 20pc tariff on wheat.
Few have been surprised with the news of the latest tax on pulse imports by India, but this hasn’t made it any easier for farmers. Pulses have been the growth crop of the past five years with farmers gearing up to take advantage of the strong returns following consecutive Indian droughts in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
Chickpea and lentil plantings have doubled since 2013/14 as farmers moved away from the traditional winter crops such as wheat and barley in favour of the more attractive returns with pulses. This surge in pulse plantings was capped off in the 2016/17 season when Australia’s chickpea harvest topped two million tonnes while lentil production topped 800,000 tonnes.
Australia exported 2.3 million tonnes of chickpeas in the 2016/17 season, with the bulk of these shipped into the Indian market. Although chickpea and lentil plantings continued to expand in the 2017/18 season, poor conditions through northern Australia has seen production fall away from last year’s record harvest.
Exporter bids for chickpeas are becoming harder to find as traders cautiously navigate the new landscape for trade into India. While there were still a few bids from container exporters into the Darling Downs, bulk exporter bids are becoming harder to find.
It may take some time before the full extent of the Indian import tax on chickpeas is fully understood on trade.
Feed grain users in Queensland and northern New South Wales have turned their sights to the upcoming sorghum harvest following the disappointing winter crop. Widespread October rainfall provided a near ideal start across Southern Queensland but the dry December has farmers desperate for rain.
ABARES is forecasting that New South Wales farmers harvested the smallest wheat crop in a decade while Queensland had the leanest wheat crop in 16 years. Barley crops were equally disappointing.
Sorghum crops through northern New South Wales are also desperate for rain. Limited rain during December combined with scorching temperatures have taken a toll on sorghum crops through around Moree and North Star areas. Yield potential has already fallen significantly and farmers are desperate for rain.
Excessive heat through northern New South Wales has become as much an issue for sorghum crops as the lack of rain. Maximum day time temperatures through the Moree and Gunnedah areas have been hovering in the mid 30s to low 40s since mid-December and the scorching conditions are showing no signs of abating.
Central Queensland farmers are waiting for rain to plant sorghum. Some crops have been planted but most have been holding off until post-Christmas. Soil moisture levels south of Emerald are reasonable but the northern areas need soaking rains before farmers will plant.
