Wine exports drop by quarter

AUSTRALIAN wine exports plunged by more than a quarter in the year to the end of March as Chinese tariffs, global shipping chaos and sluggish demand following Covid stockpiling took their toll.

The industry’s attempts to invigorate particularly the North American market also seem to be falling flat to date, with the value of exports to the

UK, US and Canada all falling.

And the super-premium end of the market bore much of the brunt of the overall losses, with the largest drop in export values coming from the $50-$99.99 price range.

In the year to the end of March, Australian wine producers shipped $2.05bn worth of wine, down 26 per cent on the previous corresponding period, while volume fell 13 per cent to 628 million litres.

“The export figures are reflective of the unprecedentedly tough market conditions over the past 15 months as a result of the imposition of high deposit tariffs on bottled Australian wine imported to China, the continuing impact of the global freight crisis, and a counter-swing in some markets after Covid-19 related stockpiling in 2020,’’ Wine Australia says in its Export Report.