Despite market access breakthroughs in recent years for stonefruit and a good retail presence in table grapes, U.S. fresh produce exports to Australia dropped 18% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2016. 

According to UN Comtrade data, the U.S. shipped 33,623 metric tons (MT) of fresh produce Down Under between January and September, which also marks a 26% reduction on the 2011 figure.

The U.S. was the leading supplier of fresh produce to Australia for the period, followed by New Zealand (+3%; 23,961MT), Turkey (+19%; 14,604MT), China (25%; 14,387MT), Vietnam (-5%; 11,950MT).

Iran (+63%; 5,526MT) and Mexico (+25%; 5,376MT) also recorded volume surges to the Australian markets, while the biggest jumps in percentage terms were from Egypt (+219%; 1,703MT) and Spain (+88%; 1,510MT).

Of the 145,188MT of fresh produce imported into Australia over the period, the category 'coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashew nuts' led the pack with 26,012MT, followed closely by grapes with 25,750MT.

The biggest percentage rise by product category was in 'apples, pears and quinces', jumping 47% to 1,260MT, followed by tomatoes (+44%; 413MT) and 'onions, shallots, garlic, leeks' (+20%; 14,371MT).

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