Australian almond demand remained strong across July despite the disruption caused by an unexpected high crop estimate out of California.
The market was hit with a sudden drop in pricing due to the USDA announcing early in the month an objective estimate of 3 billion pounds for the 2025 California crop.
The chaos the estimate caused resulted in many sellers withdrawing from the market until some certainty was restored.
In the time since that announcement intake numbers during the early part of the California harvest have not lived up to the hype and pricing has returned to pre-Objective Estimate levels.
Despite the uncertainty of the estimate, the prevailing wave of US trade sanctions has buyers in key markets like China and India increasingly looking to Australia for stock.
The lower Australia dollar against the American dollar also continued to boost export returns for local growers.
Qatar, Denmark, Belgium, New Zealand, Indonesia and Vietnam all posted improved sales months on the previous year, while the big four – Australia, China, India and Turkiye – continued to drive volumes.