Americans are warming to Australian wines once again, with exports to the USA growing by 2% in value. Overall, the value of Australian wine exports increased by 4%, according to new figures released by Wine Australia.
“China continued to drive growth and the United States of America also made a welcome return to growth,” said a statement.
The Australian financial year runs from July to 30 June, and between 2018 and 2019, export volumes dropped by 6% to 89m cases—but the drop was caused by a fall in shipments of low value wine. This resulted in a 10 per cent increase in the overall average value of exported wine to A$3.58 ($2.47) per litre, the highest level since 2009.
“The strong growth in average value is positive for the wine sector and the broader economy as it lifts returns for wine businesses and flows through to regional economies through higher grape prices,” said Andrea Clark, CEO of Wine Australia. He noted that the average grape price has risen for the fifth year running, “reaching A$664 per tonne, the highest level since 2008.”
He added that the growth in value and the declines in volume at that lower end of the price spectrum would be welcome news to the sector that has been focusing strongly on growing value rather than volume.
