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Asia boosts Australian export value

Australian wine exports have risen in volume and value between June 2014- June 2015, the first rise in export value since 2006-2007.

In the 12 months to 30 June 2015 the value of Australian exports rose 5% to AU$1.89 billion according to Wine Australia, driven, in the main, by the value of Australian exports to Asia, while the total volume of exports increased by 4% to 724m litres, the highest level since 2010-2011.

Andreas Clark, CEO of Wine Australia, said: “The value of wine exports to Northeast Asia was up 29% and Southeast Asia was up 18%. We ship more than half of our exports above AU$7.50/litre to Asia and the average value of those exports is AU$18.49/litre compared to AU$12.29/litre in Europe and AU$11.54/litre in North America.

“This is the third consecutive financial year we’ve seen value growth in the above $7.50/litre price point, now worth $529 million. It accounts for 28% of total value share but only 5% of volume.”

Exports of higher-priced Australian wine (over AU$50/litre) were also up for the fifth consecutive year to a record AU$123m.

Clark continued that this was a category Wine Australia was keen to capitalise on saying: “Our two strategic priorities are increasing the demand and price paid for Australian wine, and increasing our competitiveness.

“We’ll be expanding our program of activities in the critical US market including the introduction of a formal Market Entry Program and we’ll continue to develop the export markets in Europe, China and Asia Pacific through activities that focus on Australia’s finest wines.”

Overall the value of bottled exports continued to rise, going up 4% to AU$4.91/litre while the value of bulk exports continued to fall, down 7% to AU$0.95/litre.

The top five export countries by value are:

  • US – down 7% to AU$415m
  • UK –down 1.5% to AU$369m
  • China – up 32.1% to AU$280m
  • Canada – down 0.7% to AU$182m
  • Hong Kong – up 28.4% to AU$112m

Despite a slight fall in value, the UK remained Australia’s biggest market by volume at a steady 251m litres.

The loss in value was attributed to a 10% decline in the average value of bulk wine exports to AU$0.99/litre. There was a small rise at the top end however, with the average value of bottled exports up 1% to AU$4.11/litre, again the highest since 2006-2007.

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