The global pulses market — valued at USD 82.4 billion in 2025 and projected to reach USD 87.1 billion in 2026 — entered the year with significant structural pressure. Trade volumes eased to an estimated 21.0 million tonnes in 2025, down 6% year-on-year, driven primarily by a contraction in Indian buying of dry peas and lentils. The International Grains Council (IGC) expects a modest rebound in 2026 as lower prices stimulate fresh demand from price-sensitive markets.
Source: Miller Magazine / Future Market Insights / IGC
The 2025 Pullback: What Happened
Three forces converged in 2025 to suppress global pulse trade volumes:
- India's reduced import appetite — with domestic production solid and government procurement at MSP of ₹6,750 per quintal for lentils, India pulled back from the international market, creating a significant demand gap
- Geopolitical trade realignment — both India and China moved away from Canadian pulses; India through broad-based tariffs, China by pivoting to Russian pea imports
- Oversupply in key origins — Canadian lentil production rose approximately 38% year-on-year to 3.36 million tonnes, with total supply approaching 4 million tonnes
The result: falling prices across lentils, peas, and chickpeas — a buyer's market that is stoking demand in price-sensitive regions including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and East Africa.
Source: Saskatchewan Pulse Growers / Pulse Pod / RealAgriculture
Lentils: Comfortable Supply, Soft Pricing
Lentil stocks remain abundant heading into mid-2026. Canadian lentil wholesale prices are currently in the range of USD 1.36–2.04 per kilogram, reflecting the pressure of a near-record supply season. Australia's lentil sector has faced some weather-related uncertainty — frost and dry conditions — though the full impact on output is not yet determined.
For red lentils and split lentils, the market is at or near multi-year lows, which is creating active restocking behaviour from importers who had been drawing down inventories. This classic market response — lower prices stimulating demand — is the primary mechanism underpinning the expected 2026 rebound.
Source: Tridge / Saskatchewan Pulse Growers / Selinawamucii
Chickpeas: Surplus Supply Meets Uncertain Demand
Australia reported a bumper desi chickpea crop exceeding 2 million tonnes, adding significant supply to a market already contending with large inventories from North America and Russia. For global Kabuli chickpeas, market participants are navigating open questions around quality, sizing consistency, and demand signals across key origin markets.
The outlook for chickpeas remains "difficult to read" in the near term — supply is ample, but demand clarity is lacking, particularly from North Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, which together represent the largest import volumes for Egyptian-origin Kabuli chickpeas.
Source: Pulse Pod / Global Pulses Confederation
📊 Global pulses market 2026: USD 87.1 billion. Trade volumes expected to rebound from 2025's 21M-tonne pullback as lower prices stimulate demand in price-sensitive import markets.
Yellow Split Peas: Stable, Well-Bid
Of the major pulse categories, yellow split peas have shown the most stability. Canadian prices have held in the USD 7.00–7.50 per bushel range through recent months. Forward bids for August–September 2026 are around USD 6.10/bu — modest contango reflecting comfortable but not excessive supply. For buyers in markets where yellow split peas serve as a protein supplement or soup ingredient, the pricing environment remains predictable.
Source: Saskatchewan Pulse Growers / Statpub
Trade Route Realignment: Opportunity for Non-Canadian Origins
India's tariff wall on Canadian pulses and China's pivot toward Russian dry peas are reshaping global trade routes. This creates space for alternative origins — including Egyptian-processed and re-exported pulses — to fill demand gaps in markets where Canadian supply has become less competitive or less accessible.
Egypt's geographic position — bridging Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Gulf logistics corridors — makes it a natural hub for re-processing and re-exporting pulse commodities sourced from multiple origins, value-added through cleaning, grading, and re-packing to meet destination-specific standards.
Admiral Agro Market View
The current global pulse environment — soft prices, ample supply, and trade route disruption — creates a window for buyers to secure quality product at favourable terms. From our New Damietta facility, we are seeing active inquiry from importers in the Gulf, East Africa, and Mediterranean markets who are using this moment to diversify away from single-origin dependency. We recommend buyers use this period to build supplier relationships and test Egyptian-origin supply on 1–2 container trials before seasonal price recovery.
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