France leapfrogs Australia to become top wine supplier to China
France has replaced Australia to become China’s top wine supplier, as a direct result of the crushing tariffs imposed by the Asian nation on Australian imports.
This is according to the latest Chinese customs data, which reveals that Australia has been toppled from its position as the country’s top wine supplier, a standing it has held since 2019 when 14% import tariffs were scrapped as part of the two nation’s free trade agreement.
However, since last November when tariffs of up to 218% were slapped on Australian wines as a result of political and trade spats, the Chinese market has been effectively closed to Australian producers. As a result France has leaped to the top of the rankings, oustripping Australia to become China’s number one bottled wine supplier in terms of volume, shipping 27.1m litres and growing by 16% compared to the same period in 2020.
Chile is now the second largest supplier of wine to China, with volumes up by nearly a quarter (23%) to 15.83m litres. By way of contrast, Australian exports to China slumped by 81% during the first three months of 2021, shipping a mere 4.23m litres of wine to China according to the customs data. And in value terms, Australian exports to China crashed from AU$325m to only AU$12.
Before the imposition of tariffs, Australian wine accounted for around 40% of the Chinese wine market, but this share has now been largely carved up by France and Chile.
Spain is now the third largest supplier to China, shipping 10.6m litres, a 4% decline on the same period last year, while Italy’s exports to China also dipped slightly, donw by 1% to 7.38m litres.
Despite bulk wines being exempt from the swingeing tariffs, Australian bulk wine exports have also taken a downward turn, crashing by 80% year on year. Conversely bulk wine from Chile surged to to 18.58m litres, while bulk wine from Argentina jumped 10% to 7.38m litres year on year. France shipped 2.3m litres of bulk wine to China, which was a 15% decline.