Wine exports hit 10-year record, but what next from China?
Australian wine exports have surged, but the industry awaits the next move from China.
Australian wine exports have hit their highest value in more than 10 years despite the uncertainty of Chinese tariffs hanging over the industry.
In the September quarter, wine exports surged by 23 per cent compared to last year to $860m.
Wine Australia’s latest export report valued Australia’s total wine exports at $2.99bn — a 4 per cent increase in the 12 months to September. The increase was driven by exports to the UK and China.
Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said the overall value was at the highest since exports reached $3bn in the second half of 2007.
“Despite the unprecedented disruption that we’ve seen in markets around the world, Australian wine export volume has held reasonably steady and it is particularly pleasing to see both the overall value and the average value of exports growing during these challenging times.” he said.
In the 12 months to September, the average value of Australian wine exports increased by 4 per cent to $3.89 per litre. The volume of exports dipped 0.4 per cent to 771 million litres.
“During the July to September 2020 quarter, the value of exports increased by 23 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, and this comes after declines of 4 per cent in the April to June quarter and 7 per cent in the January to March quarter,” Mr Clark said.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic had driven a resurgence of demand for wine consumption.
“This is evident in the growth that we’ve seen in different price segments, where it was particularly strong at the low and high ends.
“Different markets have had different trends. In markets such as the UK and US, growth was primarily at the commercial/value end, while in China growth for premium wines has remained strong.”
Australian exporters shipped wine to 117 destinations, with the top five by value being China, the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
Exports to China increased by 4 per cent to $1.17bn as volume fell 12 per cent to 123 million litres.
Australian wine makes are awaiting the outcome of China’s anti-dumping investigation after the 60-day time limit before interim measures can be taken expired almost two weeks ago.
The anti-dumping probe began in August when Beijing said it had received a complaint from the local wine industry that Australian producers were dumping products into the country at deliberately low prices to claim a larger market share.
Wine is the third Australian industry to be hit by China this year, with beef and barley exports already facing sanctions as part of escalating trade tensions.
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