Canadian pea exports in June came in at only 50,452 tonnes, roughly half of what moved the previous month, with Bangladesh the largest importer accounting for 13,682 tonnes, according to StatCan. Year-to-date pea movement through 11 months of the marketing year of 2.381 million tonnes was in line with the 2.404 million tonnes at the same point in 2022/23. Yellow peas account for just over three-quarters of the pea exports.

China holds the top spot for Canadian pea exports through June at 999,100 tonnes, with India in second place at 817,500 tonnes. India was nonexistent as a pea buyer in 2022/23, with cuts to their import tariffs accounting for the increased movement this year.

The post Canadian pea exports slow in June appeared first on Country Guide.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics and Sciences released its monthly supply and demand report on June 3. The report showed a 57.2 per cent increase for Australia’s chickpea production at 1.15 million tonnes in 2024/25. The country’s lentil output is to change very slightly with a dip of a mere 2,000 tonnes from a year ago at 1.61 million.

Meanwhile, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada projected Canada’s chickpea crop for 2024/25 at 225,000 tonnes and its lentils at 2.1 million. Last year, Canada harvested 142,000 tonnes of chickpeas and 1.67 million of lentils.

With Australia being the world’s largest exporter of chickpeas, more production could affect its export program, according to Janelle Whitley, senior director of market access and trade policy for Pulse Canada.

“The impact will depend on how large Australia’s export program will be for chickpeas, and what markets will assume the larger supply,” Whitley noted.

She said Australia’s chickpea exports, more than 751,300 tonnes in 2023, are primarily focused on South Asia. Its largest customers by far were Pakistan at over 310,000 tonnes and Bangladesh at nearly 237,000 tonnes.

In comparison, Whitley said Canada exported about 219,500 tonnes of chickpeas in 2023, with the United States purchasing about 51,700 tonnes. Turkey was next at around 46,000 tonnes with the European Union at approximately 37,100 tonnes. Pakistan was fourth at 13,130 tonnes.

When it comes to lentils, Whitley pointed out the story between Australia and Canada is very different. That being India is the largest customer for both countries, from which it acquired 95 per cent of its foreign lentils in 2023.

Added to that is the Indian government has eliminated its levy on lentil imports.

“With the tariff set to zero until March 31, 2025, strong sales to India are expected and Australia and Canada will both compete for market share. According to Statistics Canada, India was Canada’s largest export market purchasing 717,850 tonnes in 2023,” she commented.

The post Pulse Weekly: Increased Australian production could pose greater export challenges for Canada appeared first on Country Guide.

On April 5, India’s government extended the duty-free status for all yellow pea imports until the end of June. After six years of tariffs and restrictions effectively cutting off the market, India eliminated the tariffs last December. Since then, the country has become a top destination for Canadian yellow peas, with 735,300 tonnes already sent in bulk this marketing year so far, according to the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC).

“Our sources tell us we will be able to ship between 800,000 and 900,000 tonnes by the time that window closes,” Cherewyk said. “It’s not quite where we were in terms of our pea volumes when we would’ve hit 1.3 million metric tonnes back in 2015-16, but it’s very significant.”

Canada exported 104,000 tonnes of lentils and 20,400 tonnes of chickpeas in February, according to Statistics Canada data. That compares with Australian exports of 128,600 tonnes of lentils and 53,800 tonnes of chickpeas during the same period, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. So far in 2023-24, Canadian exports total 1.07 million tonnes for lentils and 137,000 tonnes for chickpeas.

Cherewyk acknowledged that Canada’s share of the global lentil market has declined since 2019, but he said both Canada and Australia are roughly equal when it comes to export volumes.

“(2023) would be the first year in our history which we are seeing it this tight,” he said. “That’s a fairly significant shift.”

India and China have purchased plenty of Canadian yellow peas and lentils over the past year, despite increasing competition from Russian peas and Australian lentils as well as challenges with pulse production and yields at home, according to Cherewyk.

“A lot of product has moved this year relative to the inventory we’ve had,” he said. “That would mean that we’re at very low year-end (pea) inventories which could be at the range of 125,000 tonnes, which is very low. It will be interesting to see what kind of signal that sends to the farmer.”

While Statistics Canada forecasted more seeded pulse acres for 2024-25, dryness remains a concern for growers, which makes precipitation this spring very much needed.

Cherewyk said that it’s anyone’s guess how much production there will be for Canada’s pulse crops in the next marketing year and it will be difficult now to find the inventory to fill India’s yellow pea demand. Nevertheless, he added that 2023-24 has been a “relatively good” year for Canada’s pulse export program.

“Now we’ll anxiously await to see what gets seeded this year and how the year starts to progress,” Cherewyk said.

—Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man. 

The post Pulse Weekly: Indian demand lifting Canada’s export program appeared first on Country Guide.

MarketsFarm analyst Mike Jubinville said due to reduced production in India and the elimination of tariffs on lentil imports going into the country, Canadian lentils are in greater demand.

“(India) is going to be tighter on supply and green lentils are very much oriented towards that,” he said, adding that prices for pigeon peas, which are often used as a lentil substitute, are currently on the rise.

“That will be the key element that will drive the lentil market for the remainder of this marketing year and likely the dictating influence, short of Canadian production issues this summer, that will drive prices in the year ahead for new crop so far,” Jubinville added.

As of Feb. 12, high-delivered bids for Laird, Eston and Richlea lentils in the Prairies ranged from 58.5 to 76.5 cents per pound, up four to seven cents per pound from the month before and up 20.5 to 28 cents per pound from last year, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.

“For new crop pricing, if green lentils are at 58, 59 cents (per pound), it’s still a pretty strong price,” he said. “Green lentils could be the most profitable crop growers can get.”

High-delivered bids for Crimson lentils ranged from 30 to 36 cents per pound, up four cents from last year but between 1.5 cents lower to two cents higher from last month.

Statistics Canada (StatCan) released its Dec. 31 grain stocks report on Feb. 8 and showed that lentil stocks in Canada totaled 1.002 million tonnes as of Dec. 31, 2023, compared to 1.441 million on the same day in 2022, a 30.5 per cent decline.

Meanwhile, dry pea stocks declined 15.6 per cent to 1.843 million tonnes and chickpeas lost 56.5 per cent of its total from one year earlier at 81,000 tonnes.

Jubinville said, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor, primary pulse-producing regions on the Prairies, such as southwestern Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta, haven’t seen much improvement from dry soil conditions over the past month.

While rains after seeding are key, lentils and peas typically grow in dry areas. For the former, it may look more attractive for growers.

“For those growers, I suspect we’ll see (lentil) acres increase,” he added.

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man. 

The post Pulse weekly outlook: Lentil demand, prices on the rise appeared first on Country Guide.

Greg Northey, vice-president of corporate affairs said crop production bounced back in spite of challenging growing conditions in some areas. Chickpeas and edible beans saw increased production in 2023-24 compared to the previous year, while lentil and dry pea production declined.

Despite a smaller crop, lentil demand remained strong last year, especially from India. Pulse Canada received welcome news on Dec. 21 when the Indian government announced it will extend its tariff-free period on lentil exports to the end of March 2025. As of the end of November 2023, Canada exported 355,800 tonnes of lentils to India from licensed facilities during the 2023-24 marketing year-to-date, compared to 142,900 tonnes one year earlier, according to the Canadian Grain Commission.

Last month, India also temporarily dropped all pea import restrictions until March 2024. The restrictions were in effect since 2018.

“(Those are) really positive signals from a large market,” Northey said. “It should bode well for planting intentions in 2024. So that was good news.”

In addition, 2023-24 Canadian bulk pea exports to China totaled 641,800 tonnes through November, compared to 519,600 at the same time in 2022-23.

“We have to work very hard to maintain that market,” Northey added. “From a market standpoint, our largest (buyers) were quite good and they bode well for 2024, as well.”

The federal government unveiling its new Indo-Pacific strategy to strengthen trade ties also stood out in 2023, as well as the ability for growers to make a profit from pulse crops despite lack of production in some places, according to Northey.

While canola and wheat will take up most of the seeded area in Western Canada, global demand for Canadian lentils and peas are raising prices and could convince growers to devote more acres to them.

“We would expect, at least the projections say right now, that our volume would be higher than this past summer based on what we’re seeing in intentions,” Northey said.

However, there are still obstacles ahead for Canadian pulses. One of them is Australia projecting 1.39 million tonnes for its 2023-24 lentil crop, slightly below the record-breaking 1.69 million in 2022-23.

Pulse Canada is focusing its efforts to Chinese feed buyers to increase pea exports, as well as getting lentils and lentil products into restaurants and food service providers in Europe. Research will also be conducted to present pulses as less carbon-intensive crops for climate-conscious growers.

“Canada remains a leader, but we need to really up our game as far as growing demand (is concerned). Making sure that Canadian product is seen as world-class and then we get it to people,” Northey added. “We need to rebuild efforts on what we do now because the competition is getting fiercer.”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man. 

The post Pulse weekly outlook: Pulse Canada looking for success in 2024  appeared first on Country Guide.

However, farmers with peas might see better market conditions over the course of the shipping year because of the United States-China trade war.

“For our purposes, when we look at balance sheet for lentils and peas, we are not seeing much interest this year,” said Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Consulting Ventures.

But she said the prospects for peas could shape up if China goes looking for soybean substitutes to feed its hogs, which is already happening to some degree and Boersch believes will likely increase as the trade war builds to new heights.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Oct. 30 that his administration is ready to slap tariffs on all remaining Chinese imports worth an estimated US$257 billion, if trade talks fail.

“So that doesn’t give a lot of long-term optimism,” Boersch said.

She said she doubts China will capitulate to U.S. demands and that will send it looking to source commodities from other countries.

“I’m thinking they will also buy more peas. That’s my personal opinion. I’m not worried about the peas, but I think the lentil market will take another year to sort itself out. You just have to manage stocks right now.

“India is not going to be the solution.”

She said lentil growers will likely have wait until after the India election set for next April or May for markets to improve.

India is a top producer and consumer of pulses in the world and had been a top importer until it initiated strict import restrictions last fall. The country is attempting to generate more domestic production, while also maintaining incomes through minimum support prices. That has led to oversupply and many states have been buying up supplies, leading to large stockpiles. In turn, those heavy stocks have weighed on prices, dragging most of prices to below minimum support levels.

“It becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy,” Boersch said.

Reports out of India point to a large harvest for the kharif crop currently underway, which will add to the country’s already large supply.

In an update offered through the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers website, global market commodities specialist G. Chandrashekhar stated that India’s current kharif harvest will mark the fifth consecutive harvest (two per year) of large pulse crops.

India’s ministry of agriculture estimated 2018-19 pulse production at 9.2 million tonnes, slightly higher than the season’s target of 8.9 million tonnes.

The country now has to find a use for the oversupply, said Chandrashekhar, with government stocks estimated at four million tonnes, most of that in chickpeas (2.6 million tonnes) and pigeon peas (1.2 million tonnes).

And more supply could still be on the way, as Indian farmers show no signs of turning away from seeding more pulses for the upcoming Rabi crop, which is seeded in November and December.

“I would say it’s a little bit of a problem of their own making. When you interfere in the market that tends to happen,” Boersch said.

That’s little consolation to Canadian growers holding lentils, she acknowledged.

“That doesn’t give a lot of long-term optimism.”

The post Some optimism for peas, lentils not invited for the ride appeared first on Country Guide.

“We’re still expected to see ending stocks increasing. So as we continue to see that ending stocks increase, that stock-to-use-ratio that we’d see in Canada is going to continue to be further pressured,” said Craig Klemmer, senior agriculture economist with FCC.

In the update, released on July 31, FCC said that even though India’s tariffs on peas and lentil imports led to acreage declines, pulse crop carry-in stocks to increase for 2018-19 marketing year due to the slow pace of Canadian exports.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, carry-in stocks for lentils are expected to rise to 800,000 tonnes, while peas are predicted to increase for the third consecutive year to settle at 700,000 tonnes.

Acreage seeded to pulses did fall this year, according to Statistics Canada as of the end of June. Lentil acreage dropped 14.5 per cent to 3.8 million acres, pea acreage fell 12 per cent to 3.6 million acres.

“It’s going to really matter on that supply that we have versus that stock in terms of where that future price goes. At this point it’s going to creep a little bit lower with those pressures until we start finding or getting a little bit more movement on our pulse crops,” Klemmer said.

Pulse exports have been down this year, due in part to decreased exports to India.

FCC predicted red lentils would average C$9.80 per bushel for the 2017-18 crop year, while green peas would average C$8.90 per bushel.

“When we see what’s happening right now with some of the challenges in the market, it is a very large export opportunity and Canada is such a dominant and strong producer of pulse crops in the world. So we do have an impact on that price for sure,” Klemmer said, adding that the pulse industry is always looking for new export opportunities but without the Indian market this year it has been a huge challenge for the industry.

The post Pulse prices feel pressure from rising ending stocks appeared first on Country Guide.

The Indian government has issued a letter announcing the exemption would be extended to Dec. 31, Jade Dyson, head of the Singapore office of grain trade association Gafta, said in a Twitter post showing a copy of the document.

An Indian government official later confirmed the document was correct.

Methyl bromide was once widely used as a pesticide but is now banned or restricted in most parts of the world, including in countries that supply India with certain crops.

The Indian authorities have granted several exemptions to their methyl bromide rule in order to allow imports.

While Canada’s pulse exports have previously benefited from such exemptions, India has separately imposed tariffs on imports on peas, lentils and chickpeas that have substantially curbed Canadian pulse traffic to the country.

— Reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai.

The post India extends crop fumigation exemption until year-end appeared first on Country Guide.

The federal government announced Wednesday that India has granted another exemption to allow Canadian pulse exporters to access that market.

Exports leaving Canada on or before Sept. 30 will not require fumigation in Canada and exporters will not incur a penalty at Indian ports.

An announcement out of India on June 29 had sparked concerns over possible added fees Canadian exporters might incur. The announcement said pulses that were shipped under the exemption but not fumigated would be charged five times the usual fee for fumigation at Indian ports.

“India had last week issued another exemption for another kind of category for fumigation of methyl bromide for pulses entering the country, which did outline that if they want to import pulses with that exception, it would cost; there’d be certain fees associated with it,” said Oliver Anderson, a communications advisor at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.

The situation has since been clarified and Canadian pulse exporters will be charged no fumigation fees, Anderson said. “This is without fees.”

India requires methyl bromide fumigation to guard against nematode pests from gaining a foothold in the country.

Canada is trying to phase out the use of methyl bromide because it is classified as an ozone-depleting substance and the treatment prescribed doesn’t work in cold temperatures.

As well, the nemotode pests India is concerned about don’t exist here and other pests are controlled by Canada’s cold weather, so no fumigation is necessary.

The federal government, in a release Wednesday, said Canada continues to work toward a long-term solution.

India buys about a third of Canadian peas and lentils, worth about $1.1 billion last year.

— Terry Fries writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

The post Pulse exporters get India exemption, no penalties attached appeared first on Country Guide.

India requires shippers to fumigate crops with methyl bromide, an insect-killing gas, in the country of origin, but has historically made an exception for Canada, the world’s biggest pulse exporter. Methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting substance, is not made in Canada, but is allowed for use in limited situations.

Canada’s exemption, allowing crops to be fumigated on arrival in India, is set to expire March 31, overlapping with the 30-40 days it takes for shipments to reach India from Canada.

“It’s just a completely dead market right now for us,” said Tamara Khoma, trader at Providence Grain. The company rerouted a pea shipment to China that had been headed for India.

“Sales to India have been almost non-existent,” said Zaid Qadoumi, chief executive at Broadgrain Commodities. “We are in waiting mode.”

Pulse crops are a popular protein source in India, the world’s largest importer.

India’s pulse production looks to rise this year by 35 per cent from a year ago to 22.14 million tonnes. Even so, the country also needs to import yellow peas and lentils, said Pravin Dongre, chairman of the India Pulses and Grains Association.

“The entire supply chain will be disrupted if the government sticks with the new rule,” Dongre said, adding that fewer imports could lift prices in India.

If India does not exempt Canada, shipments may be rejected at Indian ports and have to be fumigated somewhere else at great cost, said a Mumbai-based importer not authorized to speak publicly.

New Delhi’s fumigation stance may also curb wheat imports from Russia, France and Ukraine.

A Canadian pulse exporter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said it is difficult to say if its sales have slowed because of the fumigation issue, as it is a seasonally slow period and India has ample supplies.

AGT Food and Ingredients, a Regina-based pulse crop shipper, is optimistic of a resolution before the deadline and that shipments will continue as normal, CEO Murad Al-Katib said in an email to Reuters.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay plans to visit India early next month, and has said his officials are working with India on the fumigation issue.

Canada merits an exemption from India’s fumigation policy because its cold winters kill pests, said Gord Kurbis, director of market access at industry group Pulse Canada.

Pea and lentil prices in Canada have dipped slightly, but remain strong because of demand in other markets and hopes that the fumigation issue will be resolved, said Chuck Penner, analyst at LeftField Commodity Research.

— Reporting for Reuters by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai.

The post Pulse crop sales to India dry up over pest-control plan appeared first on Country Guide.