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Australia's wine share lost to France

By 2011-10-14 16:40:10

China has become the biggest market for Australian wine priced at more than A$10 ($9.95) a liter, a remarkable shift as Chinese tastes for imported wines grow. China imported more than $1 billion worth of wine last year, up 61 percent from the year before.

Chinese imports in the A$10-plus range almost equalled those of the U.S. and UK markets combined, according to data from government agency Wine Australia, selling in restaurants, hotels and gourmet supermarkets.

Australia's bottled exports to China grew 32 percent to A$190 million in 2010, while exports to the United States fell 20 percent and to the UK slumped 33 percent, hurt by a robust Australian dollar.

But the latest figures also show Australia has lost significant market share to France, which has long been the dominant player in Chinese bottled wine imports after pioneering efforts in the 1980s.

France supplies nearly half of China's wine imports, while Australia's share dropped to 16 percent last year from 20 percent, according to Chinese customs data.

From cnwinenews