Chickpea prices skyrocket to $1,000 per tonne as importers rush to lock in supply

Australian chickpeas are in high demand, with prices surging towards $1,000 per tonne in some regions. This significant jump from earlier in the year, when the market was trading closer to $600 per tonne, has left growers and industry experts optimistic.

What's driving the chickpea boom?

Grains Australia Pulse Council chair Peter Wilson attributed the price surge to a combination of factors. "There's a lot of volatility globally right now, which is creating enormous turbulence in logistics and supply chains, which is keeping buyers on edge," he said.

"We're also seeing the impacts of El Niño, which looks to have left parts of India with lower-than-average rainfall from the monsoon, which has caused their local chickpea prices to rise, which is pushing everything along," Mr Wilson added.

The season's strong demand ahead of Ramadan, which starts in early February, is also driving the price surge. "Ramadan creates peak demand for a lot of our pulse crops [like chickpeas], and we see buyers wanting to have product pre-positioned at least one month ahead of Ramadan," Mr Wilson said.

"So we're seeing some urgency from buyers trying to get product onboard vessels for key destination markets such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and the UAE, so it's in the market and ready for that Ramadan demand," he added.

Impact on growers and the industry

North West Queensland chickpea grower Lucas Findley said he was pleased with his harvest, yielding about 1.2 tonnes per hectare. Although he had already forward-sold most of his chickpeas at a lower price, he said it was still exciting to see the market rally.

"High prices are always good for any commodity and I'm happy for anyone who can take full advantage of these prices," Mr Findley said. "We'd sold around 75 per cent of our chickpea crop prior to this recent price rise at a good price that we were happy with."

"But we still have around 25 per cent of the crop available to take advantage of the stronger prices, which will be a very nice finish to the season," he added.

As the industry continues to experience high demand, prices are expected to ease as harvest supply increases.