Pulse Prices Slide as Record Bearish Supply Floods 5 Key Varieties
Pulse Prices Under Pressure Across the Board
Pulse prices are trending lower across every major traded variety as of mid-May 2026, with record production from the Southern Hemisphere and North America saturating global pipelines.
Black matpe (urad) is trading between $900 and $940 per tonne on a CNF basis, down $10 to $15 per tonne between April and May. Pigeon peas remain in the $600 to $660 per tonne range, stable to slightly softer after dropping $10 to $15 through the month. Lentils sit at $595 to $615 per tonne while chickpeas hold near $580, both showing minimal movement since late 2025. Yellow and green peas are the weakest performers, quoted between $305 and $345 per tonne under persistent selling pressure from cheap imports.
The price softness is not limited to a single origin or variety. It reflects a structural oversupply condition that has built over two consecutive seasons of above-average global harvests, compounded by policy shifts in both producing and consuming nations.
Australian Pulse Production Sets New Records
The single largest contributor to the current supply glut is Australia's 2025-26 winter crop, which delivered the second-largest pulse harvest on record. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), total pulse production reached 6.3 million tonnes, up 16% year on year.
Lentil output alone hit a record 1.91 million tonnes, driven by a 38% increase in yields to 1.7 tonnes per hectare and a seventh consecutive year of expanded plantings. Chickpea production came in at 2.12 million tonnes, making it the second-largest chickpea harvest ever recorded. Lupin production reached 991,000 tonnes, up 27% on the year.
These volumes have overwhelmed traditional export channels. Australia exported a record 2.05 million tonnes of chickpeas in 2024-25, with 70% destined for India. With the 2025-26 crop now moving into the export pipeline, comfortable supplies are expected to persist through the remainder of the marketing year, limiting any upside potential for prices.
Canadian Pea Exports Regain Chinese Market Access
Global pulse supply has been further amplified by Canada, which harvested a near-record 8.4 million tonnes of pulses in the 2025 crop year. Canadian farmers expanded lentil, chickpea, and bean acreage in response to strong price signals from the 2024 marketing season, only to face weakening demand as the crop matured.
The overhang of Canadian supply was exacerbated through much of 2025 by China's 100% retaliatory tariff on Canadian peas, imposed in March 2025 in response to Ottawa's tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel, and aluminium. The tariff effectively shut Canada out of a market that had absorbed more than 1.5 million tonnes annually, valued at over $700 million per year.
However, in January 2026, Canada and China announced a preliminary trade agreement under which Beijing would remove the discriminatory tariff on Canadian peas from March 1, 2026. While the removal has reopened one of Canada's most important export channels, volumes of Canadian peas that were diverted to alternative markets during the tariff period, including India and Southeast Asia, continue to weigh on global pricing. According to the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, ending stocks of yellow peas and green lentils in Canada are expected to reach record highs by the close of the current marketing year.
India MSP Pulses Policy Aims to Shift Planting Incentives
India, the world's largest pulse consumer at approximately 30 million tonnes annually, has responded to the global oversupply dynamic with a combination of import policy adjustments and domestic price support measures.
For the 2025-26 Kharif season, the Indian Cabinet approved significant MSP increases for key pulse crops. The minimum support price for pigeon peas (tur) was raised by 450 rupees per quintal to 8,000 rupees, equivalent to approximately $960 per tonne. Black matpe (urad) MSP was increased by 400 rupees per quintal to 7,800 rupees. These hikes, ranging between 5% and 9%, are intended to incentivise Indian farmers to expand domestic pulse acreage and shift planting from paddy to pulses, thereby reducing the country's structural import dependence over time.
India also reimposed a 20% import duty on yellow peas in November 2025 after duty-free access had fuelled record imports of 2.95 million tonnes in calendar year 2024. Total Indian pulse imports reached a record 6.88 million tonnes that year. The policy reversal was designed to protect domestic pulse prices above MSP levels and encourage rabi-season plantings of chickpeas and lentils.
Despite these interventions, the sheer volume of global supply has kept international pulse prices soft. India's own chickpea production is projected to recover above 10 million tonnes in 2025-26, further reducing import demand for that variety.
Structural Demand Provides a Price Floor
While the immediate price trajectory across all major pulse varieties points downward, growing structural demand for pulses as processed ingredients is providing a floor beneath wholesale values.
The global expansion of plant-based protein markets has created sustained demand for pulse-derived flours, starches, and protein isolates. This ingredient-grade demand operates independently of traditional commodity trade flows and continues to absorb volumes even when bulk commodity purchasing slows. According to the International Grains Council, global pulse trade is projected to recover in 2026 after temporary declines caused by trade disruptions the previous year.
In some importing regions, falling pulse acreage is partially offsetting the global supply surge. In the United Kingdom, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reported that the cropped area for pulses in 2025 fell below 200,000 hectares, the lowest level since 2019, representing a decline of over 73,000 hectares in two years. However, the resulting supply gap has been filled by cheap imports from Europe and Canada, preventing any meaningful price recovery in domestic markets.
Outlook: Oversupply to Persist Through 2026-27
The balance of supply and demand factors suggests that pulse prices will remain under pressure through at least the second half of 2026.
On the supply side, record carry-over stocks in Canada, continued export availability from Australia, and recovering domestic production in India all point to ample global availability. On the demand side, India's MSP-driven push toward self-sufficiency in pulses, combined with reimposed import duties on yellow peas, signals a medium-term structural reduction in one of the world's largest import markets.
The primary risk to the bearish outlook is weather. India's Southwest monsoon performance will be critical in determining whether the Kharif pulse crop meets production targets. Rainfall projected at just 92% of the long-term average threatens urad and pigeon pea yields, which could increase import reliance and provide a temporary price boost. Additionally, any reduction in Canadian or Australian planted area in response to low prices could begin to tighten the supply balance heading into the 2027 marketing year.
For now, the pulse market remains firmly in a buyer's market, with the cure for low prices likely to come not from demand recovery but from the inevitable production response to sustained margin compression.