THE demand for one of the Riverland’s biggest exports continues to grow, as markets in Asia expand and Californian growers deal with the impacts of drought.
After almond exports hit record highs in the previous marketing year, 2021-22 has started strong with exports for each of the first six months so far exceeding their 2020-21 marks, according to the Almond Board of Australia’s August export position report.
China continues to rank as the largest export market for Australian almonds, with a 65 per cent increase in tonnage from the same period last year.
Almond Board of Australia CEO Tim Jackson said the industry was currently working through its own “China Plus program”, with Australian growers expanding to supply a wide range of markets around the globe.
“China continues to be a lucrative market for the industry and fetches handsome returns due to the free trade agreement and the ongoing tariff measures on Californian almonds,” he said.
“The uncertainty around what lies ahead with supplying this market has prompted Australian exporters to spread their risk and focus on a wide range of other markets to reduce any perceived reliance on one key market.
“Imports to India are up 94 per cent on the same time last year and reflect the potential of the world’s biggest almond market.
“Almonds have been promoted as immunity boosters in India during the pandemic and sales of almonds have been at record levels.”
Exports to other emerging markets have also increased significantly, with exports to Vietnam doubling to almost 4500 tonnes, and exports to the United Arab Emirates increasing fourfold to almost 2000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, the European market has shrunk slightly, with a 10 per cent dip in exports so far in the 2021-22 marketing year.
Overall, Mr Jackson said worldwide demand for almonds, a crop that contributes more than $210m to the Riverland economy, was at “historically high levels”.
“The world has consumed more almonds in the past 12 months than ever before,” he said.
“The plant-based foods phenomenon is reaching every corner of the globe and health benefits of almonds is driving demand.”
Despite the continued growth, Mr Jackson said the industry did face challenges with exporting.
“All exporters are experiencing holdups in shipments to all markets due to delays in shipping,” he said.
“This will be an ongoing issue for the industry as it continues to grow and needs to export more product.”
The local almond industry stands to benefit from challenges experienced by growers in California – by far the largest almond-growing region in the world – who faced a lack of rainfall, record high temperatures and low water allocations.
“(Australian) exporters will continue to ship as much as possible and could have kernel in size ranges that are not readily available from the large drought-impacted Californian crop,” Mr Jackson said.
The Australian almond industry has gone from a niche industry that has pitched itself as a counter seasonal supplier to California to a much larger and more credible alternative supply source of almonds to the globe all year round.
“We supply many of the same varieties as the Californian industry and have steadily won the confidence of buyers over the world for our quality and availability.”
Mr Jackson said almond prices had undergone a period of volatility and were being impacted by difficulties with shipping internationally.
“(Prices) recovered after hitting the lowest point in more than 10 years but have just softened again as buying activity weakened and shipping availability made prompt shipments impossible for both Australia and California,” he said.
“Shipping will play a key role in market sentiment given the delays in booking a ship and just how long it is taking to deliver product.
“Key selling periods in key markets could be missed unless long-term commitments are made by buyers.
“Weather conditions have also played a large part in market sentiment as California endures ongoing drought conditions and reduced crop expectations.
“Heavy rain in California will feed into a buyer narrative of increased optimism around water availability, but too much rain might be just as bad as not enough in the short term.
“The value of the Australian dollar will also play its part on returns, as many financial pundits had predicted the dollar to be above 80c by this time of year.
“Overall, after a very bleak outlook in the first half of the Australian season, the global supply-demand balance has started to swing back in favour of growers, and returns in 2022 are looking like they could return to long-term averages after a period of potential volatility.”