Wine Australia has reported that Australian wine exports grew by 17 per cent in value to $2.2 billion in 2023-24, the highest level since the fiscal year ended September 2021, owing to a jump in exports to Mainland China during the past three months.
The majority of the value rise to Mainland China – 84 per cent of the growth – was driven by exports of wine priced at $20 or more per litre.
After tariffs were abolished earlier this year, Australian winemakers rushed to rebuild their brand presence in China. Treasury Wine Estates, a listed Australian wine company, said it was taking “immediate action” to re-establish relationships with Chinese customers and partners after China’s government announced the removal of tariffs on Australian wines.
“The surge in exports to mainland China towards the end of the financial year saw volume rise from 1 million litres to 33 million litres and value grow by $392 million to $400 million compared to last financial year,” said Peter Bailey, Wine Australia’s manager of market insights.
Red wine was the biggest benefactor of Australia’s increased exports to Mainland China, with overall volume up 3 per cent to 330 million litres and value up 27 per cent to $1.5 billion compared to 2022-23.
However, Bailey noted that the increase in exports to Mainland China remains a small percentage of the market’s historical highs.
“The volume of exports at 33 million litres, is relatively small, equating to less than 5 per cent of Australia’s winegrape harvest in 2024 and so is unlikely to make a significant impact on the current oversupply of red winegrapes, particularly in the big volume-producing warm inland regions.”
However, he said it is extremely improbable that Australian wine exports will reach those earlier heights in the short to medium term, given that Mainland China’s consumption of both local and imported wines is less than one-third of what it was six years ago.
