Impressive wine result tempered by virus
THE peak industry group representing Australia’s $6 billion wine sector expects exports to the nation’s biggest market, China, to suffer this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The warning – which comes on top of the impact of bushfires on the industry – came as Wine Australia released numbers which showed the value of wine exports rose 3 per cent to $2.91 billion in 2019.
The value of exports rose despite the overall volume of wine shipped out falling 12 per cent to 744 million litres as the nation targets the premium segment of the global market.
Exports of higher-valued wines – those priced above $10 per litre – hit a record value of $1.1 billion last year.
Wine Australia chief executive Andreas Clark said while it was too early to predict the fallout from the virus outbreak, it would have an impact.
“Looking ahead into 2020, we anticipate that coronavirus will have an impact on sales, particularly to China, but at this stage, it is difficult to predict the degree of that impact,” Mr Clark said.
“Our first concern is people’s wellbeing in China and elsewhere and there will be time down the track to consider other impacts.”
Consumption of Australian wine in China is expected to be hit by a downturn in social gatherings there.
The situation has been worsened by the ban on noncitizen travellers entering Australia from China, given Chinese tourists are big spenders at Australian cellar doors.
Wine exports to China, Hong Kong and Macau rose 12 per cent in value to $1.28 billion in 2019 while volume declined 17 per cent to 142 million litres.
“While the total value of wine imported by China has declined, Australia has consolidated its position as the No.1 imported country of origin ahead of France,” Mr Clark said.
Australia accounts for 35 per cent of China’s total wine imports when measured by value, compared with France, which has 29 per cent.
Australia exports 63 per cent of all wine produced here to 120 nations.