Australia’s national wine inventory has risen for the second consecutive year as sales lull, according to a new survey from Wine Australia.
The industry body’s annual production, sales and inventory report found that supply chain constraints in the past two years have severely impacted the Australian wine sector coupled with high deposit tariffs on bottled wine imported to Mainland China along with changing consumer habits.
Total sales for both domestic and export wines were down by 9 per cent to 1.06 billion litres while total Australian wine production was down by 12 per cent to just over 1.3 billion litres.
The national stocks-to-sales ratio for red wine increased by 35 per cent to 2.77 while white wine remained static at 1.52.
Wine Australia’s manager for market insights, Peter Bailey, said the report captures the challenges the Australian grape and wine community have endured during the past couple of years.
“Wine inventory levels fluctuate during the year, generally being at their maximum just after the new vintage and then depleting over the next 12 months as wine is sold.
“However, transportation challenges in getting wine to market is reported to have had a flow-on effect, with wine production capacity expected to be further constrained ahead of vintage 2023 as a result of the higher-than-average inventory.”
The report is a “snapshot” of the national position and covers an estimated 77 per cent of total wine production and is not representative of smaller wine models.
