The Bulk Wine Club has published the latest data: why Italy and France need to import such a large quantity of bulk wines?

The Bulk Wine Club has published the latest data relating to the 10 largest exporters and importers of bulk wine (packaging over 10 liters).

From January 2019 to January 2020, the global bulk wine trade reached 33.93 million hectoliters (13% of world wine production estimated at 260 mhl), for a total of 2,472 million euros. These figures represent a 2% increase in volume terms, but a 5.6% decrease in value. The average price fell 7.4% to 0.73 €/liter.

EXPORTS

1. Spain has consolidated itself as the first world exporting country with a 5.3% increase in sales, equal to 11.2 million hectoliters. However, it also recorded the most significant drop in terms of value (-18.4%) – with a turnover of 460 million euros – since its price dropped to 0.41 €/liter (-22.5%).
2. Italy registered a trend similar to that of Spain, although more positive. Italy grew by 26% to exceed 4.7 million hectoliters (+1 million), but decreased by 3% in terms of turnover, reaching just under 300 million euros (-9.5 million ). Italy remains the second-largest exporter in terms of volume, followed by Australia (3.47 million hectoliters, -13%).
3. Australia, however, continues to outperform Italy in terms of value, even if it has only invoiced 600,000 euros more than Italy, as it fell by 9% (300.1 million euros).
4. Chile, fourth supplier country, follows a trend similar to that of the world average: increasing in volume (+ 2.3%) but decreasing in value (-7.3%), due to lower prices.
5. New Zealand has gained considerable importance as it has grown by 12% in terms of volume and 14.5% in value, given that it exported at an average price much higher than in other countries: 2.28 €/liter.

IMPORTS

The United Kingdom dominates world imports of bulk wine in terms of value, equal to 602 million euros (-1.6%), followed at a distance by Germany (500 million euros, -9.9%).

1. Germany, however, is clearly the first buyer in terms of volume with 8.5 million hectoliters (+ 4%) at an average price of 0.59 €/liter,
2. France follows (5.45 million hectoliters, + 2.5%) at an even lower price, 0.47 €/liter.
3. The United Kingdom is positioned as the third buyer with 5.1 million hectoliters, at an average price of 1.18 €/liter, this explains the UK’s leadership in terms of value.

QUESTIONS

• Italy is the largest wine producer (47.5 mhl), the 2nd largest bulk wine exporter (4.72 mhl at 0.64 €/liter average) and the 10th largest bulk wine importer (1.29 mhl at 0.45€/liter average, equal to 2.7% of its wine production).
• France is the 2nd largest wine producer (42.1 mhl), the 7th largest bulk wine exporter (1.70 mhl at 1.20 €/liter average) and the 3rd largest bulk wine importer (5.45 mhl at 0.47 €/liter average, equal to 12.9% of its wine production).

Why Italy and France need to import such a large quantity of bulk wines???

Singapore, November 6th, 2023 – I attended a nice B2B wine tasting event organized by DealExport at 13% Wine Bistro in Singapore. The event showcased multiple French wineries looking for potential distributors in the Singapore market. Over 50 labels were available for sampling, but the highlight for me was the incredible Champagne flight featuring 19 different bubbly.

Sources:

• 2019 Bulk wine data from Bulk Wine Club
• 2019 World wine production data from OIV “STATE OF THE WORLD VITIVINICULTURAL SECTOR IN 2019” Report