Chickpea quotes held steady for a second week as Saskatchewan finished harvesting a large crop on top of big carry-in stocks.
- Saskatchewan's quotes for desi and kabuli chickpeas did not change in the week.
- Supply is large because a big crop follows stocks well above normal.
- A move in the provincial quotes, or a new official outlook on October 20, would show whether that supply is weighing on prices.
Chickpea prices did not move this week in the only quotes available. Saskatchewan's October 7 quote put desi chickpeas at C$573.20 a tonne and 9 mm kabuli at C$638.24, both unchanged since the September 23 quote, which had jumped from the week before. The two types sit on opposite sides of last year: desi about 17 per cent higher, kabuli about 5 per cent lower. Kabuli is below its level at this date in all of the past five years; desi sits in the middle, above 2021-22 and last year but below the other three years. Chickpeas have no futures market and no weekly elevator bids on the page, and no market report for the week discussed prices, so there is no price move to explain.Charts: Exhibit 5
What changed in the week was the harvest. Saskatchewan reported chickpeas 89 per cent harvested on October 5 and 98 per cent by October 12. Statistics Canada's model puts the crop at about 400,000 tonnes, 17 per cent below last year but 72 per cent above the five-year average, with area about half as large again as the five-year average. It follows stocks of 236,000 tonnes at July 31, nearly four times last year's.Charts: Exhibit 7, Exhibit 8, Exhibit 9
The official outlook already reflects that supply. In September, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada cut its forecast of the average chickpea price for 2026-27 by C$50 to C$450 a tonne, while raising its export forecast slightly. Statistics Canada figures reported on 6 October put August exports at about 19,200 tonnes, with Pakistan the largest buyer.Charts: Exhibit 12
The elevator figures say little about this market. Licensed country elevators held about 25,000 tonnes of chickpeas on October 11, against a crop of about 400,000 tonnes, so these figures cover only a small part of the crop. Their stocks were within the five-year range for the date, and farm deliveries to them were above average for the week. With most of the crop now in the bin, the next provincial quotes and the October 20 official outlook will show whether this supply is starting to weigh on prices.Charts: Exhibit 2