By Peter Hobson
Canberra (Reuters) – The Australian wine export boom to China which has followed an improvement in relations between the two countries shows signs of slowdown, in the midst of a larger world drop in the number of bottles directed to the second world economy.
China is the most lucrative market abroad in the Australian wine industry, but its consumption of wine falls sharply, in the middle of a more progressive drop in the world.
The lifting of prices by Beijing on March 29 of last year sparked an increase in exports. Australia has sent just over a billion dollars ($ 640 million) in wine in China in the 12 months to March 31, data from the body Wine Australia show.
This amount is just below the file, a number of $ 1.15 billion exported during the year until March 31, 2020 and followed a period of more than three years during which commercial restrictions were in place and Australia has sent negligible quantities of wine for China.
However, exports slowed down after the initial rush, totaling $ 126 million in the first three months of 2025, the least for any quarter from January to March since 2016.
The influx of Australian bottles in 2024 has led to the first annual increase in imports of Chinese wine since 2018, according to Chinese customs figures accessible using the commercial data instructor.
Imports from China from other nations such as France, Chile and Italy have more than divided by half since 2018 and continue to decrease.
“Australia has exceptionally performed well to reach a billion dollars,” said Peter Bailey, director of market information at Wine Australia.
“There was certainly a slowdown … continuous growth for Australia is not ensured.”
The commercial barriers of China – imposed during a political birth between Beijing and Canberra in November 2020 – aggravated Australian overabundance, leading to huge inventories, a grape prices dive and a vineyard purge.
Wine Australia said China would not solve the excess supply problem because it is important a smaller number of bottles that are more expensive than before.
Adding to these problems, exports of Australian wine to the rest of the world fell in the 12 months until March 31, he said.
Bailey said Australia could benefit from Chinese prices in the United States, which will probably interrupt American wine exports to China worth around 50 million dollars a year, and Canada's exchange for American wine, but it was too early to know with certainty.
($ 1 = 1,5601 Australian dollars)
(Report by Peter Hobson; edition by Sam Holmes)
