Australian exports hit record high last year, driven by Chinese sales
Australian wine exports reached a record high last year, fuelled by surging shipments to China.
This is according to Wine Australia’s latest Export Report which reveals that shipments were up by 15% to hit sales of $2.56billion, and up by 8% in volume to reach 811 million litres of wine in the 12 months to December 2017.
"Clearly the key engine room for that is China: the value of exports have increased by 63% [in the past year] to AU$848m – we are approaching $1 billion; it is huge growth,” said Wine Australia's chief executive officer Andreas Clark at a briefing held in London this morning, adding that Australian wine was in a "strong position".
Export values were boosted by a 3% increase in the average value of bottled wine to a record $5.63 per litre, while the value of those exports above $10 per litre leaped by 29% to an all time high of $738m.
The price of bulk wine shipments also increased, with total value up by 10% to $440m and average value per litre up by 6% to $1.03, the highest average value since 2012.
Nearly all price points enjoyed a healthy growth in sales, but premium Australian wines experienced the greatest surge, with those priced over $200 seeing sales soar by 67% to hit over $53,727.
The second fastest growing price category was amongst those wines priced between $20 and $29.99, where shipments soared by 60% to hit a value of almost $131,613.
Wines priced between $30 to $49.99 also saw a healthy boost in shipments, up by 52% to reach almost $94,211. The only price category to see sales slide was amongst those wines falling into the $15 to $19.99 category, where shipments dropped by 12% year on year to $76,674.
The growth in Australian exports was largely driven by exports to Northeast Asia, up by 47% to more than $1 billion for the first time. Sales to China surged by 63% to $848m, with exports to Hong Kong up by 7% to $118m.
Clark said that Australia’s impressive sales performance in China was down to a combination of the good image that Australia enjoys and the hard work put in by the country's wine industry over the past decade.
“Australia’s image is really strong in China," he told Drinks Business. "The country is seen as clean, green, safe, and high quality, and that feeds down to Australian wine. And we have number of strong brands, in particular Penfolds – which has been a real pathfinder in China, although the growth has been enjoyed very widely and deeply by many producers,” he said.
In more well established export markets, sales to the US dropped by 2% to $449m, while shipments to the UK were also down by 2% to $348m. Canadian sales dropped further, dipping by 3% to $187m. Exports to Oceania were up by 8% 5o $94 million, and to Southeast Asia by 2% to $156m, while shipments to Europe inched up by 1% to $576 million.
Red wine was the most widely exported variety, accounting for three quarters of the total export value, up by 19% to $1.9billion. White wines, meanwhile, saw their value grow by 3% to $552m.
The varietal accounting for the biggest share of the export market was Shiraz, up by 18% to $601m, while Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blends saw the largest increase, up by 57% to reach a value of $187m. Cabernet Sauvignon saw exports jump by 20% to $341m, while Merlot increased by 17% to $114m. Chardonnay experienced the smallest increase, up by 6% in total.
Sparkling wine sales also grew by 7% to reach $49 million, driven by the growth in popularity of Australian sparkling wine in China and New Zealand, where the exported value increased by $2million for each market.