Wine hits a high note
Australian exports hit 15 year high
AMID a global trade war, Australian wine is coming out a major winner.
The value of Australian wine exports rose a staggering 20 per cent to $2.76 billion in the year to June 30, notching up the highest growth rate in 15 years.
And China appears to be the engine room, with the value of exports up
55 per cent to $1.12 billion to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Wine is also more valuable than it has been in almost a decade.
The average value of exported wine grew 9 per cent in 2017-18 to $3.24 a litre, its strongest price since 2009.
The figures reveal Australia has come out so far unscathed in an escalating US-China trade war.
The wine sector has been helped in part by a lower Australian dollar, difficult vintages in major wineproducing competitors and increasing demand for premium wines, particularly in South-East Asia. But official export figures released by Wine Australia show demand for Australian wine in the US – Australia’s second biggest export market by value – dropped 8 per cent to $424 million. Sales were down 11 per cent in volume. Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said Australia had to position itself in the US as a premium winemaker. “Australia has the opportunity to capture more of the premium end of the market as American consumers trade up to higher priced wines,” Mr Clark said.