Demand for Australian almonds continues at a record pace in the latest industry shipping report released by the Almond Board of Australia.

Despite the 2023 crop being down by 30 per cent, June sales into India, Turkiye and Spain continued to drive volumes at unprecedented levels after four months of the new season.

Season to date, Australian almond exports are up 49 per cent on last year’s record season, said ABA CEO Tim Jackson.

China sales represent 30.5 per cent of total exports, but volumes have dropped seven per cent on last year, while India’s new trade agreement has resulted in a 111 per cent increase on the same period last year and is now back as the second largest export market for Australian almonds.

“The increase in volumes into India confirms our long-held belief there is potential for significant growth in this market for both Australian and Californian almonds,” Mr Jackson said.

“While other industries are just starting their Indian export campaigns, we have an established network and as our crop grows, so will the interest from these buyers.

“Not a week goes by that our marketers do not receive enquiries from India about purchasing more almonds.”

Mr Jackson said the season long trend of processors clearing manufacturing grade stocks also continued with large volumes being shipped to Turkiye and Spain.

“It is likely that a lot of this stock is carry-over from 2022, so clearing this stock in a low yield year will help with cash flow and clean out warehouses.”

Mr Jackson said global pricing remained “very low” and the only hope of a bounce in value would be a declining Australian dollar against the US dollar and the Californian almond industry experiencing lower yields during the current harvest than had been estimated.

These reports are prepared on a marketing year basis spanning March to February and contain almond export data provided to the ABA from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Global Trade Atlas.

The Almond Board of Australia met at Robinvale from August 21–22 for the biennial Research and Development Forum. This followed on from the Mallee Almond Blossom Festival at Robinvale the previous Sunday.

Mr Jackson said the festival has attracted a growing patronage, especially among the younger generation keen to take part in local orchard tours that provided rare photographic opportunities in among the sea of white almond blossom.