PH wine imports from US rising despite higher tariffs

The country’s wine imports from the United States (US) is expected to hit a record high of 4.3 million liters from 3.9 million liters last year despite higher tariffs imposed on alcohol beverages in the country. Based on the estimates of Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), US will export a record 4.3 million liters or 477,778 cases of wine to Manila, value of which stood around US$13 million. The US has long been the leading supplier of wines to the Philippines and since 2009, the Philippines has been the largest US wine market in Southeast Asia in terms of volume, surpassing even major transshipment destinations in the region such as Vietnam and Singapore. In 2017, US wine exports to the Philippines reached 3.9 million liters or 433,333 cases, which was valued at $11.6 million. “Prospects for growth are exceptionally bright despite tariffs that inflate the final price by 75 percent, distribution challenges, and intense competition due to regional free-trade agreements,” USDA said in its latest Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report. From 2000 to 2017, the volume of wine exports to the Philippines tripled to 13.8 million liters or 1.5 million cases, while their value nearly quintupled to $49.8 million. USDA said the continued growth in wine consumption is presaged by the country’s young, fast-growing and highly urbanized population with increasingly sophisticated tastes and evergrowing access to supermarkets. (MBM)