Australian wine exports to Hong Kong rise by 55pc

Australian wine exports to Hong Kong have increased by 55 percent to A$148 million in the 12 months to March, the ndustry body has reported.

Hong Kong is the fifth biggest market in terrms of value, behind mainland China, the UK, the United States, and Canada.

Exports to mainland China, timbled by 24 percent to A$869 million, according to Wine Australia’s latest export report today.

Overall shipments of wine in the 12 months fell by 4 percent in value to A$2.77 billion, compared with the previous corresponding period. This was largely the resulf of high Chinese tariffs.

Export volume dropped by 1 percent to 724 million liters (80 million 9 liter case equivalents) while the average price per liter for wine exports fell by 3 percent to A$3.82 free on board.

Wine Australia Chief Executive, Andreas Clark, attributed the drop to a steep decline in exports to mainland China as well as the cumulative effects of three consecutive lower vintage in Australia leading to less volume available to export. “Notwithstanding the impact of China’s tariffs, we were still looking at a potential downturn in exports over this period simply due to the supply situation,'' Clark said.

Clark said exports to China from December 2020 to March 2021 were just A$12 million compared with A$325 million in the comparable period a year ago.