SA wine export values strong to March, but coronavirus likely to cause a hit
Wine Australia export value figures for South Australian wine are solid to March 30, but coronavirus is set to take its toll.
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The value of South Australian wine exports grew by 8 per cent to $1.87 billion in the 12 months to March 31, but with the value of the nation’s March exports to China almost half that of the same time last year, growers are being warned of more pain ahead.
Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said the first quarter of each calendar year was historically the quietest in terms of exports, but the slowdown was significantly steeper in the first quarter of 2020.
“We saw total export value for the quarter ended March 31 decline by 7 per cent compared with the same quarter in the previous year, principally driven by declines in exports to mainland China,” he said.
“Australian export value in the month of March 2020 to China was 43 per cent lower than March 2019 and 14 per cent lower than the same quarter in 2019.”
Mr Clark said with the COVID-19 crisis evolving on a daily basis, it was too early to get an accurate picture of how great the impact would be.
“Sales data from the UK and US suggests that while cafes and restaurants have closed and sales have been lost, it’s been offset by people buying more wine for at home consumption,” he said.
While the last month has been tough, driving a rise in export values in the past year was a record average price for bottled exports nationally of $7.12 per litre Free On Board.
Mr Clark said another positive was the average value of Australia’s unpackaged wine exports increasing by 5 per cent to $1.26 per litre – levels not seen since late 2005.
He said the rise reflected continued demand for Australian wine even in a more competitive bulk wine market and this was flowing through to increased returns for growers in regions such as the Riverland.
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Nationally, total export volume declined by 11 per cent to 728 million litres, due to lower vintages in 2018 and 2019.
Although not yet complete, Mr Clark said it was clear that vintage 2020 was delivering exceptional quality fruit but yields were down.