Across the globe, the worldwide hydroponics market is projected to grow from $19.95 billion in 2015 to $27.33 billion in 2020. Conversely, the global food and agricultural industry, in 2016, was worth about 10% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) — but that could increase even more as the hydroponics sector continues to grow, impacting agricultural production across the globe.
According to Quartz, Australia is working toward fully allowing medicinal cannabis exports, which will subsequently improve international trade and lessen the global scrutiny surrounding cannabis.
The Australian government stated that it will now allow medical cannabis exports across the country in order to boost opportunities for domestic manufacturers, improve Australian healthcare, and further stimulate the economy.
“The Australian government’s decision to allow medical cannabis exports supports the development of the cannabis industry internationally,” said Jonathan Sherman,” a marijuana securities lawyer in Canada specializing in cannabis legalization. “While it is a source of competition for Canada, the decision continues to validate the significant global opportunity for medical marijuana, which will have a continued positive impact for efforts in Canada and other countries developing policies for legalization.”
The ability to sell and deliver in international markets will surely help Australia’s formative industry, which — at the time — isn’t permitted to stockpile cannabis products and face delays in securing approvals for patients hoping to be treated with medical cannabis.
Currently, only a handful of countries across the globe allow medicinal cannabis exports, including Uruguay, the Netherlands, and Canada. Additionally, a few other nations, including Israel, are planning on accepting medicinal marijuana exports.
In the United States, the fluorescent grow light market value alone amounted to roughly $50 million in 2016, and seems to be on the rise with increasing popularity, agricultural necessities, and new legislation.
On an industry-positive note, an Australian hydroponics company recently acquired a world-class biomanufacturing facility, resulting in share increases up 31% during the March quarter to $1.079 million.
According to Proactive Investors, The Hydroponics Company acquired THC, which operates biomanufacturing facilities in Queensland for medicinal cannabis.
“This is a game-changing investment undertaken by THC providing it with large-scale, state-of-the-art biomanufacturing capabilities required to lead Australia’s medicinal cannabis industry,” added Steven Xu, chairman of THC. “The addition of this acquisition is a major component of our roll-out strategy that will generate substantial growth for the company.”
The acquisition costs $2.55 million and the facility will focus on extraction therapy in order to produce a broad range of high quality, pure cannabinoids as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API).
“This decision will help both the domestic supply and Australian producers by strengthening the opportunities for domestic manufacturers,” added Greg Hunt, Federal Government Health Minister.
As far as cannabis exports on the international level, it’s important to note that export licensing must be required before any sales or distribution can commence.