Foodsectornews.com - Australian Wine Exports On Rise With China Being The Key Importer

Australian Wine Exports On Rise With China Being The Key Importer

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

Australia has registered record highs in its wine exports, in terms of both the value and volumes, over the past 12 months (that ended on April this year). China remained the key importer, in turn the key driver, behind this impressive growth.

Wine exports of Australia have set records of new volume and value in the year ending in April ‘07. There was a 12% rise in the volumes that reached 797 million-liters and a 6% growth in value that reached $2.94 billion, as said by the Australian Wine & Brandy Corp. “China was a key contributor to growth in exports. Volume (to China) grew 16 million litres to reach 25 million litres, while value grew $28 million to reach $46 million,” Lawrie Stanford – information & analysis manager for the Corporation said this in the news that Wines- Info had published.

Next only to France, Australia remained the 2nd biggest supplier of imported canned wine to China last year. The country sold just above four million liters of canned wine to China. For the one-year (time between March ’06 and March ’07), exports of canned wine from Australia to China exceeded six million liters (or more than A$ 32 Million).

China remained major contributor to the growth in export, as the volumes grew more than 6-fold and the value almost tripled last year. Increase in consumer incomes coupled with a cutback in duties & tariffs on import have spurred the demand for wine in China. Growth was also largely driven by the increasing interest of consumers in the potential health advantages that wine entails. Younger consumers’ lifestyle was another significant driver behind the remarkable growth in the wine markets of China.

China is forecasted to excel Japan as the most favored export destination throughout Asia for the Australian bottled wine exports this year. Considering the low base (last year, 115.5 million liters imported wine was consumed by the market), China still remains an emerging wine importing market, in comparison to the more sophisticated and developed markets of UK, US, and Japan.

As per the views expressed by a research analyst at RNCOS, “Although high end customers are maturing in China, personal service as well as culture value added natures remain the key driving forces for wine purchasing there. So, Australian wine firms’ attached importance for the wine culture as well as other promotional activities will aid them in enhancing their brand-image in the wine market in China.”