Premium wine demand boosts Australian exports

The value of Australian wine exports rose for the first time in seven years, boosted by demand for premium wines in North America, Europe and Asia, officials said Wednesday.
Total wine export values increased by 1.9 percent to Aus$1.82 billion (US$1.49 billion) in 2014, the Australian Grape and Wine Authority said.
Total export volumes also grew by 1.9 percent to 700 million litres, it added, supported by a decline in the value of the Australian dollar, which recently hit a five-and-a-half year low.
"It's encouraging to see the value of Australian wine exports in positive growth for the first time since 2007 and increasing demand for our premium wines was a major contributing factor to that growth," the government body's interim chief executive Andreas Clark said.
Clark said the ultra-premium sector -- for wines above Aus$50 -- experienced the strongest growth, jumping 55 percent last year to reach a record Aus$107 million.
More than 90 percent of ultra-premium wines were exported to Asia.
While Beijing's austerity measures since late 2012 have hurt China's imported wine market, total Australian exports rose by eight percent last year to 40 million litres with a value of Aus$224 million.
"In volume terms, bottled exports have almost recovered to the levels recorded before the full effects of the austerity measures took hold," the authority said.
China is Australia's third-largest export market for wine in terms of value, behind the United States and Britain.
The US market declined by nine percent in volume amid two years of record domestic harvests, while Australia's bulk wine exports to Canada jumped by 48 percent to 31 million litres.