New figures show that Western Australia exported a record $6 billion worth of food and agricultural commodities in the last financial year despite a deterioration in global markets.

WA Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman said growing demand for WA products from the Middle East and Asia had seen exports easily exceed the previous year’s record $4.7 billion.

“The value of our agrifood exports grew 28 per cent in 2008-09. This is a real testament to the strength of our industries and their willingness to chase these new markets,” Mr Redman said. “Up to 90 per cent of what we produce annually is exported and these figures show that the world is keen to buy more and more of the food and crops that we produce.”

“WA has less than 10 per cent of Australia’s farms, but we produce nearly 20 per cent of Australia’s total agriculture and food exports.”

In 2008-09, Indonesia took A$931million worth of WA agricultural products, led by grain, cattle and meat. While the Middle East was a key growth market last year, with export values rising 19 per cent to a record A$1.6billion.

Share