Canada, which has always been a traditional leader in the chickpea market, is starting to worry that Russia could be a serious competitor.
We are talking mainly about small kabuli chickpeas (about 6-7 mm in size).
Russia is increasing its production, so as early as 2023-2024, Canadian manufacturers need to be ready to fight for a buyer.
This was discussed, in particular, during the Global Pulse Confederation 23 congress of leguminous producers.
Indeed, if you look at the dynamics of the last few years, you can clearly see that Russia is increasing production.
For example, 500,000 tons of chickpeas were grown last season, 435,000 tons in 2021, and 325,000 tons in 2020.
At the same time, it is expected that the Canadian chickpea harvest this time will be about 255,000 tons.
If Russia continues to develop at the same pace, then very soon it will simply “fill up” the market with its products, so the concern of Canadian farmers is quite justified.
Among other things, they are worried that the appearance of large volumes of Russian chickpeas will affect prices, causing them to decline.
Why is Russia growing chickpeas so actively?
Deepak Rawat, a trader at Empros International, explained the main reason.
The Government of the Russian Federation imposes export duties on the main types of agricultural products that are produced in the country. For example, it is wheat, corn, barley.
Chickpea has never been a major crop in Russia, so there are no such restrictions in relation to it.
As a result, Russian farmers can sell such products at a good price — $ 800 per ton, and even without any duties.
By the way, this applies not only to chickpeas: recently there has been a tendency for Russian agricultural producers to switch to “exotic” crops in order to bypass duties and maintain high profitability.
Who are the main players in the chickpea market?
In addition to Russia and Canada, India has a strong position in this market.
This year it could harvest 350,000 tons of chickpeas, up 21% from the previous season, while exports could be 100,000 tons or more.
Turkey should also be noted, it can harvest 245,000 tons of chickpeas, showing an increase of 25%.
By the way, Turkey also actively imports chickpeas from Russia, and then resells it to other countries.
As for chickpea importers, Pakistan plays an important role here: it imports up to 25% of the total world market.
Algeria also buys a large amount of chickpeas every year.
