Wine exports to China

It probably comes as no surprise that Australia’s wine exports to China are surging. The U.S. still remains the major market for Australian wines, but the U.K. has slipped to our third major market behind China. For the most part, Australia only sends wine in bottles to these markets, and predominantly as full container loads (FCL).

Whilst we have the tyranny of distance to contend with, the freight cost and sundry port and handling charges only represent a miniscule amount of the final selling price.

The USA and UK are very much dominated by a few exporters who have most of the distribution arrangements and outlets themselves or under tight control. China is a bit more open slather. China does have their own import restrictions that can vary greatly from port to port, and can depend greatly on the consignee having all their i’s dotted, and t’s crossed. Whilst most of the exports from Australia to China are well organised, we have heard of containers being held at the entry port for 5 months.

China is a huge country and a huge market. There are a number of small companies and individuals who export to China with a modicum of success. How sustainable the current arrangements for these exporters remains to be seen.

For anyone entering this market, the most important consideration is whether your consignee has everything in place for the smooth handling of the product once it gets there.

There are opportunities in other markets for both bottled and bulk wine. Consideration should be given to those countries with whom we have negotiated Free Trade Agreements (FTA’s). At the moment, there are hardly any exports to India because of prohibitive tariffs, but there has been a lot of talk and hard work to get a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India signed, that may open the doors to another huge market.

The statistics for the fiscal year of 2016 tell us that the value of Australian Wine exports is: USA 22%, China 19%, UK 17%, Canada 9%, rest of Europe 9% and New Zealand only 4%. The rest of the world making up 19%.

We at SPLS are well positioned to handle the exports of both full container loads and less than container loads to all markets for small to medium exporters. Please feel free to contact us at any time to discuss your requirements with our team of experts.