New high for bids on Liv-ex

The value of confirmed bids and offers on the Liv-ex Exchange reached a new high last week of nearly £30 million.

Referred to by Liv-ex as “exposure”, the total value of bids and offers last week on the platform was £29.2m. The rise has been boosted by an increase in bids since June 2014 and has been growing since 2007 when the exposure was just £3.3m.

The news is a follow-on from January when the bid:offer ratio on Liv-ex rose above 100% for the first time since 2010 – a sign which pointed to greater stability for fine wine prices.

In turn this plays into the wider narrative of a strong start to the year for fine wine following 1.1% rises for both the Fine Wine 100 and Fine Wine 1000.

Liv-ex pointed out that purchasing power has been boosted by recent currency upheavals, with a weaker sterling making euro and dollar buyers more active.

The trade-off is always the warning that in recent years the fine wine market has rallied in January only to irresistibly decline – usually following a disappointing Bordeaux en primeur campaign.

Liv-ex, however, also pointed out that the first growth tracker, the Fine Wine 50, is up 2% on the year to date.

Will this be sustained? It asks.