The latest Wine Australia Export Report has shown that Australia’s wine exports continued strong value and volume growth in the 12 months to 30 September 2017.
Exports grew in value by 13 per cent, to $2.44bn and in volume by nine per cent, to 799m litres. There was exceptional growth to mainland China, where the value of exports grew by 56 per cent to a record $739m. Over the 12 months exports to every region increased and the value of exports increased in 82 of the 124 countries that Australia exports wine to.
“Established and new-to-market exporters are sharing in this strong export growth,” said Andreas Clark, CEO of Wine Australia. “There were a record 2102 active exporters in the period, up from 1744 exporters in the same period in 2016. Of these, 1475 exporters experienced a growth in exports of 28 per cent ($451m) to $2bn.”
The average value of bottled exports increased by one per cent to $5.53 per litre and the average value of bulk exports increased by three per cent to $1.00 per litre, underpinning four per cent growth in the average value of all exports to $3.06 per litre free on board (FOB), the highest value since the same period in 2009.
Red wine continues to dominate exports, contributing 74 per cent of export value. Red wine is also the standout growth category for table wine, growing by 16 per cent to $1.8bn. Exports of white wine also grew but at a much lower rate of two per cent to $546m.
“Pleasingly, there was growth across almost all price points,” Clark added. “Segments experiencing stronger growth included: entry level and commercial wines priced at $2.49 per litre FOB and under, which grew at 22 per cent to $505m and premium wines priced above $10 per litre FOB, which grew by 23 per cent to a record $67m.
“This growth reflects increasing demand for premium Australian wines in most regions around the world, where consumers are trading up to higher value products across a range of categories.”
Australia’s five largest markets account for 76 per cent of the value of Australian exports. The top five markets by value were:
- mainland China (30 per cent share of export value)
- the United States (19 per cent share)
- the United Kingdom (14 per cent share)
- Canada (eight per cent share), and
- Hong Kong (five per cent share).
Australia’s top five markets by volume were:
- the United Kingdom (28 per cent share of export volume)
- the United States (23 per cent share)
- mainland China (17 per cent share)
- Canada (eight per cent share), and
- Germany (five per cent share).
Wine Australia said: “It is important to note that 80 per cent of wine exported to the United Kingdom and Germany was shipped in bulk containers. This has a significant impact on the reported FOB values that are used in Wine Australia’s Export Report as the value of packaging is not included in the FOB values as it is with products packaged in Australia.”