Spanish wine exports to China increase in 2010

MADRID, Feb. 25, 2011 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Figures released in Spain this week show that exports of Spanish wine to China increased over four hundred percent during 2010.

The data, which was published in 'El Correo del Vino' confirms that sales of Spanish wine to China increased by 465 percent last year, rising from 8.4 million liters in 2009 to 47.3 liters in 2010.

Meanwhile the value of those exports more than tripled, rising by 312 percent from 11.6 million euros (16 million U.S. dollars) to 36.1 million euros (50 million U.S. dollars).

The reason there increase in the quantity of wine exported is higher than the increased income is explained by the fact that much of the sales were in bulk and consequently have a much more economic price.

China imported 37.71 million liters of Spanish wine in bulk during 2010, compared with 3.65 million liters in 2009 and the average price for that wine was 0.41 euro per liter (0.56 U.S. dollar per liter).

Spain also saw good results in exports of bottled wine to China, more than doubling the quantity from 4.6 to 9.5 million liters and also seeing the benefits rise by over 200 percent, from 9.8 million euros (13.5 million U.S. dollars) to 20.1 million euros (27.7 million U.S. dollars).

Spanish wine is clearly capturing the imagination of the Chinese wine consumers, but there is still one area which Spain has to fully exploit and that is the sparkling wine, Cava.

Although sales of this product increased by 82 percent in 2010 to 142,000 liters, it still struggles in competition with French Champagne, which saw exports increase to over a million liters last year.

However, despite that relative disappointment, Spanish wine producers do have good reason to raise a glass in celebration.

Today Spain has more land dedicated to grape cultivation than any other country in Europe. Its 1.2 million hectares of vines means 35 percent more land is given to wine production than in either Italy or France.

Spain now has over 5,500 different wineries and produces around 48 million hectoliters of wine a year and according to a study by the Observatorio Espanol del Mercado de Vino, (OEMV) published in July 2009, 43 million people now drink Spanish wine on a regular basis.