Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said 'Pleasingly, our latest Export Report shows that the value of Australian wine exports grew in each of the top 15 export markets in the year ended 31 December 2015.
'This export growth should be warmly welcomed by the Australian grape growing and winemaking community as it is largely a result of their hard work.
'Our global team is committed to working with wine businesses to capture export opportunities and we encourage businesses to contact us to discuss how we can assist them.'
Guy Adams, Managing Director of Langhorne Creek wine company Brothers in Arms, attributes their export success in the important US market to 'a significant investment in time and cash', 'patience and persistence' as well as 'having access to a consistent supply of quality product at the right price'.
He believes that companies interested in the US market need to invest in shoe leather, saying ‘they must be prepared to invest in the travel the market requires for success'.
This is the first time that there has been growth in each of the top 15 markets in a calendar year.
The strongest growth was in China, which grew 66 per cent to $370 million.
The value of exports increased at each price point and the largest increase was in wines with a free on board (FOB) value over $10 per litre. Sales of these wines grew by 35 per cent to a record $480 million. They now make up 23 per cent of the value of Australia's wine exports.
A detailed breakdown of this growth for exports of wines with a FOB over $10 per litre shows wines valued at FOB:
- $10.00–14.99 grew 24 per cent
- $15.00–19.99 grew 55 per cent
- $20.00–29.99 grew 22 per cent
- $30.00–49.99 grew 16 per cent
- $50.00–99.99 grew 59 per cent
- $100.00–199.99 grew 40 per cent
- $200.00 + grew 23 per cent.
Bottled wine has been the key driver of the export success. Bottled exports increased by 17 per cent to $1.6 billion and the average value increased by 7 per cent to $5.20 per litre. This is the highest value since 2003 on a calendar year basis.
There were 1,517 active exporters in 2015 (up from 1,395 in 2014) and Australian wine was exported to 122 destinations. The top five markets by value are:
- the USA, which increased by 4 per cent to $443 million
- the UK (Australia’s number one market by volume), which increased 0.2 per cent to $376 million
- China, which increased 66 per cent to $370 million
- Canada, which increased 7 per cent to $193 million, and
- Hong Kong, which increased 22 per cent to $132 million.
Background
All prices are in Australian dollars. All prices are free-on-board (FOB) prices.
