According to the Almond Board of Australia, almonds have become our most valuable horticultural export, with annual export sales surpassing $AUD422 million last year, which is an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year.
This is on top of massive growth over the past five years, where export sales increased almost 250 per cent.
Future predictions note that in 2015-16, export sales will reach $AUD600 million.
In fact, the almond industry is set to become Australia’s most valuable single commodity horticultural industry, generating around 10 per cent of Australian horticulture’s gross value.
India is Australia’s largest overseas market for almonds, followed by
Spain, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
According to Ross Skinner, CEO of the Almond Board of Australia, “The recent Free Trade Agreements with Japan and Korea combined with the industry’s focus on promoting the Australian almond brand in these countries has resulted in promising gains of 295% and 145%, albeit off a low base.”
“The China and India FTA’s will be very advantageous to the Australian industry as these are two of the largest almond markets in the world and the removal of tariffs will make a significant impact on returns from these markets,” Mr. Skinner stated.