CANBERRA: The Australian wine industry marked a significant milestone recently. The value of its exports in the financial year to June 2015 rose 5 per cent to $1.89 billion while volume of exports rose 4 per cent to 724 million litres – the first rise in export value since 2006-07, and the first time wine export volumes have risen since 2010-11.
Australian winemakers exported to 122 countries in the year to June, with 45 more companies exporting than the year before. While Australia’s wine makers are cautious about the turnaround after a period of flat export sales, much of the momentum behind wine’s resurgence lies in the trade agreements with Asia.
The value of Australian wine exports to north-east Asia were up 29 per cent in the year to June, and increased by 18 per cent in south-east Asia over the same period.
Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark says the FTAs with Korea and Japan have had noticeable effect on sales and interest from distributors. And with the Aussie now weakening against the US dollar, wine exports are staying an Asia-Pacific affair: our FTA partner on the other side of the Pacific, the United States, is showing signs of increasing its importation of Australian wine. “It’s been hard for the industry over the last decade,” says Clark. “Now the growth story is unequivocally in Asia, thanks to the FTAs, and Australian winemakers are talking with the Americans again thanks to a strong dollar.”
The Korean FTA came into effect in December last year, dropping the 15 per cent wine tariff which put Australia on a level playing field with Chile and Europe. Wine exports to Korea in the 12 months to June subsequently increased 28 per cent by value and 38 per cent by volume.
In Japan, the FTA came into effect in January, first taking bulk wine imports to zero tariff. In the 12 months to June Australian bulk wine exports to Japan have increased five-fold by volume. In the premium bottled segment, sales to Japan have increased 51 per cent in the year to June, even though the 15 per cent tariff is phasing to zero over seven years.
