Global Lentil Market Expects Oversupply

The global lentil market faces an oversupply in the new season amidst record harvests in major producing countries and reduced import demand from India. This was stated by Gaurav Jain, Director of the Singaporean company AGPULSE PTE LTD, at the AgroFood Summit 2025 international conference in Mersin, Turkey.

According to the analyst's forecasts, Australia will harvest 1.53 million tons of lentils in the 2025/26 marketing year, which is 270,000 tons higher than the previous year. The country's export potential is estimated at 850,000 tons, while carryover stocks could reach 917,000 tons.

Canada, the world's largest producer of this crop, will increase its gross harvest to 2.94 million tons compared to 2.47 million tons a year earlier. However, export shipments will amount to only 1.9 million tons, and ending stocks will hit a historical record of 1.3 million tons.

Kazakhstan demonstrates notable progress, securing the third position among global lentil producers and exporters. This year, the republic harvested 592,000 tons of the pulse crop, increasing production by 136,000 tons compared to the previous season. Kazakhstan's exports will grow to 500,000 tons from 300,000 tons, with Turkey remaining the main export destination.

A key factor in the formation of excess supply will be the decline in import demand from India, one of the largest buyers of lentils in the global market. The reason for this is the high domestic harvest of chickpeas, which will partially replace the need for imported pulses.