A SURGE in wine exports to mainland China in recent months drove the overall value of Aussie wine exports up 17% to $2.2 billion in the last financial year.
The latest Export Report from Wine Australia, released yesterday (30 July), notes the value of wine exports in 2023-24 was the highest it had been since the 12 months ended September 2021.
Increased in exports to China occurred in the last three months of the financial year, as Australian wine re-stocked supply pipelines following the removal of the duties on Australian bottled wine in late March 2024.
Wine is one of the mainstays of Australian containerised exports. There were 574 companies exporting to mainland China in 2023-24, up from 115 in the previous financial year. Prior to the imposition of duties, there were more than 2000 companies exporting to mainland China.
Wine Australia’s manage of market insights Peter Bailey said the rise in exports to mainland China is still a small fraction of the historical peaks achieved to the market.
“The surge in exports to mainland China towards the end of the financial year saw volume rise from 1 million litres to 33 million litres and value grow by $392 million to $400 million compared to last financial year,” Mr Bailey said.
“While the figures are very positive, they represent the re-stocking of Australian wine in the pipeline of a major market after a long absence and do not necessarily equate to retail sales. It will take some time before there is a clearer picture of how Chinese consumers are responding to the increased availability of Australian wine in-market.
“Consumption of both domestic and imported wines in mainland China is less than a third of what it was six years ago and thus it is very unlikely that Australian wine exports will return to those previous peaks in the short to medium term.”
Mr Bailey said growth in value has seen mainland China return to the top export market by value, but the volume of exports, at 33 million litres, is relatively small.
Exports to the rest of the world (excluding mainland China) declined by 4% ($68 million) to $1.8 billion and volume decreased by 5% (33 million litres) to 587 million litres. This is the lowest volume exported to the rest of the world in a financial year since 2003-04.
“Global trading conditions remain very challenging with wine consumption continuing to fall in many markets around the world due to moderation trends and cost of living pressures.
“There are also enduring problems in shipping, with a shortage of ships globally and freight and charter rates on the rise,” Mr Bailey said.
Australia’s top five export destinations by value were mainland China (up $392 million to $400 million), US (down $2 million to $357 million), UK (down $11 million to $353 million), Hong Kong (up $55 million to $275 million) and Canada (down $17 million to $146 million).
The top five destinations by volume were UK (down three million litres to 217 million litres), US (down 11 million litres to 124 million litres), Canada (down eight million litres to 68 million litres), mainland China (up 31 million litres to 33 million litres) and New Zealand (down 3 million litres to 28 million litres).
Among varieties exported from Australia, still red wine was the main beneficiary of the growth in exports to mainland China, with total volume of red wine up 3% to 330 million litres and value up 27% to $1.5 billion compared to 2022–23.
